Farm Frenzy
by PLLFanFicts
Summary: When Aria and Ezra have enough of Rosewood, they sneak off to a farm owned by Ezra's Aunt and Uncle in Kansas. Aria starts to relax, But then her friend Spencer reveals she's pregnant, and now homeless. Spencer and Toby join Aria and Ezra on the Farm. Out in the middle of nowhere, they learn that they're still much closer to Rosewood than any of them would've liked.
1. Chapter 1

**Aria's POV**

It's the first day of summer. And it's a Saturday. And what do normal people do? Well, some go to the beach with friends, go swimming, sleep in from the party the night before, go to the mall, hang out at home, go to dinner with family, whatever. What do I do? Climb into my old English teachers car, and head of for a farm in the middle of Kansas. Of course, Mr. Fitz isn't just my old teacher and my dads co-worker. He's my boyfriend. My parents, obviously, had a total fit when they found out. My brother even threw a punch at poor Ezra. I know my parents could easily press charges on Ezra, since I'm a minor and they don't approve of Ezra and I. (But luckily, I'm turning eighteen in just a few months.) My father got Ezra fired from his job at the college he was teaching at - Hollis. Ezra went to New Jersey to look for jobs, but no luck. And so Ezra had decided to go back to visit his Aunt and Uncle in Kansas for a while. But my parents don't know that. They think he's still in New Jersey. But he isn't. Currently he's here in Rosewood to pick me up and keep driving down to Kansas. So when I told my parents I was going to visit Emily in Texas for summer, well, who could argue with that? They insisted on buying a plane ticked, but I told them I was catching a ride with Hanna. Like a girls rode trip. This was a simple fix, since Hanna actually IS going to see Emily in Texas. So the plan is for Hanna to come and take me to Ezra's. And she'll go to Texas, I'll go to Kansas, and my parents will never know. I plan to get back in three week, the same time Hanna gets back. I have my bags packed and laying by my door. Hanna's coming at seven am, and right now it's ten till. I lay in my bed, and stare up at the ceiling. I'm supposed to wake up my parents to tell them I'm leave before I get on the rode, but I think I can hear someone walking around upstairs. And I've nearly fallen asleep when there's a knock on my door. "Rise and Shine!" Hanna comes in my room, and turns the light on. "Come on, Aria. Don't be such a lazy butt. Your mom had to let me in."  
I sit up and rub my eyes. "Sorry, I guess I fell back asleep and didn't hear the door…"  
She shrugs. "Well, let's go then."  
So I get out of bed, and with a yawn, make my way downstairs. I don't plan to change out of my sweats and tank top. Neither Hanna or Ezra care. I already brushed my teeth before I fell back asleep, and so I quickly re-do my pony tale, slide on my flip flops, wake up my dad and tell him goodbye, hug my mom, throw a pillow at my brother Mike, yelling bye to him, and I'm in the car, ready to go.

*NOTES*  
Hi guys! My friends Bailey, Jon and I all write this story together. We come up with the chapter outlines and we each write some chapters. Jon MOSTLY writes for Toby, Bailey mostly writes for Spencer, and I mostly write for Aria and Ezra. So at the end of each chapter I'll say who wrote it :) I wrote this chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing :) It makes Bailey, Jon and I really happy :)


	2. Chapter 2

**- Spencer's POV -**

When I was six and Melissa was seventeen, my father went out for a "business meeting". On his way to "the office" he hit an icy patch on the road, swerved, lost control, and hit another driver. The other driver was okay, but that doesn't mean he didn't suffer. The thought of killing someone, a son, husband, father, was a nightmare. It's crazy, isn't it? How the bitter truth can come out in the worst of ways. For example, we learned before the accident my father was on his way to see his girlfriend and little boy in Philly. He had been going up there to see them twice a week, and fed Julia the same lie. Anyway, Julia showed up at the funeral with Xavier, her son. Julia stopped by the house once before, and seemed nice. She gave our mother her condolences, and introduced herself. Melissa and I had been watching from the staircase. I wasn't too interested. Honestly, I just wanted to go downstairs to find the cat. But of course, Melissa said we shouldn't disturb them. Maybe if we had, things wouldn't have ended up like this.  
I only saw Julia one other time, at my father's funeral. My mother threw a glass on wine in her face and called her a home wrecker. Julia was so upset, but come on. Did she honestly think the wife of your lover was going to be excepting of you and his illegitimate love child? If so, she was sadly mistaken. Mel wasn't on her side, either. Especially after what happened a few weeks later. My mother became severely depressed, and started drinking. A lot. She'd get so worked up over the littlest things, dishes not being done, Julia calling, her car not starting, etc. Mel only made it worse. She tried to help, but mother took it as backtalk. Pretty soon after her rampages she starting hitting Mel, Then worked her way to me. Imagine explaining to your first grade teacher the mysterious bruises on your arms.  
One afternoon, after my mother had pushed me down the stairs, Mel had enough. That night, she woke me up, had me pack an overnight sack, and we went to her friend Lindsay's house. That morning, she talked to mother. Told her she was staying there until she was eighteen, which was just a few days away, and was adopting me. My mother was hysterical. But Mel held her ground. No matter how many tears my mother shed could make her cave. So on her eighteenth birthday, she started her case. A case that would be cut short because of a hand full of pills, and an ill-minded widow. So as I grew up, we were constantly in debt. Funerals were cheap. Neither was raising yourself and your little sister. Somehow, Mel did it. She barely finished her senior year and immediately got a job to support us. And how do I repay her? By showing her eight white wands that would change everything.  
"Hey, Mel?" I knock on her bedroom door, and hope she's already asleep. Just like her mother, Mel has a bad temper. Who knows what she'd do if she knew the truth?

***earlier that week***  
"Now everyone listen..." Mrs. Carlton's words were like a faint buzzing to me. Normally, I'd be poised and alert, maybe even taking notes. Not today. My period was due a week ago. This didn't mean much  
at first, they're usually late-ish. But when I woke up this morning and instantly ran to the bathroom to puke? Yeah, that doesn't happen too often. So during lunch, drove to Walgreens, bought a few pregnancy  
tests, and waited. Waited for the little white stick to predict my future.  
***end flashback***

The door swings open, and drops little paint chips as it hits the wall. "What, Spencer? I'm kinda busy." she says, motioning towards the stacks of bills, notebooks, and calculators spread out on her bed.  
"Come in the living room. You might wanna sit down for this." She hesitantly closes the door and follows me to the mini living room. She sits on the old, worn, couch and crosses her legs. "Spencer, hurry along. I have to finish the tax returns for The Grille, or Marissa will have my head." I squirm in my seat, an armchair that was here when we moved in. "Well, Toby and I-" Mel springs out of her seat and starts toward the bedroom. "I've had enough of hearing about that kid. You need to focus your attention on something else, something more academic perhaps, instead of some high school romance. One that won't make it past your senior year. You need to start thinking about your future, Spencer. I swear-" I run up behind her, grab her shoulders, and spin her around. "MELISSA. I'm pregnant!" As soon as I blurt out  
the words, I instantly wish I could take them back. I cover my mouth as Melissa's face drops. "Y-y-ou're...WHAT?" Mel pushes my hands of her shoulders and recoils, as if I told her I had Poison Ivy.  
"You're PREGNANT? How could you do this to me?" Melissa leans her head against the wall and slowly sinks to her knees. "Mel, I'm so..." I start, but Melissa snaps her head towards me. "You...I spent all of my life raising you! I didn't even get to start COLLEGE. I work FOUR jobs just so I can keep a roof over our head, water in the sink, heat in the furnace, and food on the table. So you decide to add to  
the load and bring in another human being into this world, knowing you couldn't take care of it?" She's, back on her feet now, inching closer and closer to me, until her nose is practically touching mine. "It's Toby's isn't it?" She asks, backing away. I nod, and she looks out the smudged window to Toby's house, making a face of disgust. "What do you have against him, Melissa? He's done NOTHING to you!" I cry, fed up with her constant criticism of Toby. He's done nothing but make my life bearable, he makes me...happy. Something I'm sure couldn't be without him. He's my everything. "He's not good for you, Spencer! Look what he did, he knocked you up for heaven's sake! Plus, he's not the most stable character. The other day I heard him screaming at his father, storming off in that truck of his. That could be him, storming off on YOU, after you tell him about...it." She sighs exasperatedly, and walks over to the kitchen. A few moments later she returns, a glass of scotch in hand. "Toby's not that kind of guy. I know he'll take care of me and the baby." Melissa rolls her eyes and darts back down the hallway. For a minute, I thought she went back to her room. Well, until I hear a light flicker, closet door swing open, drawers slam, and a zipper. Soon, a suitcase and duffle bag land at my feet, alongside my shoes. "Leave. Now. If you're mature enough to have sex and get pregnant, you're mature enough to leave the nest.  
Go fly little bird, it'll be easier without you." I know it was the alcohol talking, but her words stung. How could she kick me out, now, of all times? I'm just a kid myself, how am I going to raise one? "You know what? You're no better than mom, leaving her family behind." That caught her attention. She spins around and throws her glass against the wall, just inches from my head. The glass shatters, and  
shards fall around my feet. "You are NEVER allowed back in this house. NEVER. don't call, don't show up. Especially with that demonic child of yours." That was it. Melissa storms off to her room, slams the door, and turns up the radio. Where am I going to go? "Spencer...? What are you doing? It's like...late." Toby asks, running a hand through his untamed bedhead. I mess with the strap on my duffel nervously then say, "I need a place to stay, just for the night. The Holiday Inn on fourth street was closed, so... I came here." Toby ushers me inside and directs me up the staircase. Once safe from waking Jenna, or even worse, his father, Toby asks, "What's this about, Spence? Why aren't you home?" I flop down on the bed, tonights events finally weighing in on me. I was kicked out. I can't return home. Where am I going to go? I can't stay here, Toby's dad will have a breakdown. Then again, how else would Toby see his baby? If I can't stay here, then I'm leaving Rosewood. Plain and simple. "Can we talk about that in the morning? Please? I just kinda wannabe here, without the questions or complications. Just lay here, I'm bed, with you. Hopefully get a few hours of sleep." He nods and climbs in next to me. Just like that bitter March night, Toby pulls me close to him, wraps his arms securely around me, and falls instantly to sleep. I just lay there, wide awake, fearing what tomorrow had to bring.

**Bailey wrote this one :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**-Aria's POV-**

I lean on the car, filling it with gas, as Aria's in the 7-11 in Lancaster, Ohio. We've been driving since 8 am, and now it's almost 5pm, and we'll probably be driving straight through till tomorrow afternoon. Unless we spring for a hotel, which we just might, considering Aria's aversion to being in a car. She SAYS she gets car sick, but I think she just gets bored and antsy. Plus she refuses to drive in the middle of the night. Again, her way of forcing me into a motel. Oh well. I'M not complaining!  
Aria walks up with some hot dogs and a large soda, and two straws. "For the rode." She smiles, while putting them on the hand rest in the front seat. "I know we brought granola bars and chips and water and stuff for snacks but I figured if we were stopping for gas, we might as well get SOME food rather than take the time to stop and eat."  
"Don't tell me you're rushing to get to a farm in Goodland Kansas.." I say, mocking her.  
"No," she says. "I'm rushing to not be on the rode."  
"Ah." I nod. I look at the price from the gas. "You know," I start. "We drove to save money, but I think with all these gas stops, we would've been better off flying."  
Aria and I get into the car.  
"I agree. So we'll fly back." She says, buckling her seat belt, kicking her flip flops off, and getting comfortable back in her seat.  
"And do what with my car?"  
"You need a new car anyway." She says. "this one obviously doesn't have very good gas mileage."  
I laugh and pull back onto the rode.  
"But we both know the truth." She sighs. "We couldn't fly because my parents would be buying a ticket to Texas." She says looking over at me.  
I shrug. "Well, rode trips are more fun anyway. Just the two of us. We get to see beautiful..."  
"Beautiful gas stations?" she says. We both laugh.  
"Well I was going for like, landscaping and stuff. But I guess we haven't done any sight seeing have we?"  
She shakes her head.  
"But really." I say. "It's ok. I like driving."  
She laughs. "I don't! We CAN stay in a motel, right?" she leans over in her seat and rests her head on my shoulder, looking up at me with her beautiful eyes. I sigh. "I guess we can. With one condition."  
"And that is?"  
"We share a bed."  
She laughs. "Deal." Then he pulls out the map, glances over it and says "then we'll stop in Springfield, Illinois. It'll be like, eleven."  
"Mhm.." I say.  
She sighs happily. "Freedom..." She says in a dreamy voice. "It's only a few states away..."

**I wrote this one :)**


	4. Chapter 4

In my dream, it's dark. The only source of light is a projector-like screen, just kinda...floating there. Everything's still until a sudden gust of air surges through the room, knocking me off my feet. The wind blows the screen back, then it springs to life. Color fills the room. Slides faster than light flicker on the screen, each printed with a single word. After a few seconds, my eyes adjust, and I'm able to read the screen clearly. Cheater, Liar, Quitter, and so on. It seems like everything I've ever done wrong in my life makes a guest appearence. A final slide pops up on the screen, this one bolder than the rest. In a clear, bigger font, reads "Teen Mother". I wait for it to go away, longing for the original darkness. It never comes. The slide stays up there, filling me with more shame by the second.

Mothers so young weren't common in Rosewood. No one younger than mid-twenties. No one to seek help from. No one to tell me it gets easier. No one to provide hope. I was back to being how I was before Ali came along; alone.

"Toby Allen Cavanaugh, what were you thinking?" Toby's mother asked, pulling him out of the room. Apparently, she was no fan of whispering. "What if it would have been your father, not me, who walked in? I love Spencer to death, but she can't stay overnight." Her voice lowered as she heard Toby's dad stir. "It'll just cause more problems for you and I both." Through the door a hear Toby sigh, but agree. He waits until his father is once again quiet and says, "I know, she kinda sprung it on me. Her sister doesn't want her at home anymore." "This isn't a home for troubled girls, Toby. This isn't foster care, this isn't a group home. Spencer doesn't belong here. If she doesn't have anywhere else, she could go to the shelter just a few blocks away. It isn't too bad there." Toby, outraged with his mother's words, swung the door open, almost causing me to fall flat on my face. "Why don't you tell that to her face? And all the other things you've said, about her parents, her sister, her apartment, and clothes, her personality and just about everything else? Oh yeah, I know why!Because YOU have nothing good to say, and can only say it behind other people's backs!" He yelled over his shoulder, while he pushed me put of the way. He grabbed his keys of the nightstand and grabbed my hand. "C'mon, Spence. We're leaving." I shot an apologetic look towards his mother, before being dragged down the stairs, and into the truck.  
"What do we do now? Go find a motel? Go back inside? Drive until we cross the border?" I know the last one was just a joke, but I can't help thinking how perfect that'd be. A brand new start in a place where no one knows us. Just another strange face on the street.  
"You want to go to Canada?" I ask, hoping he says no. When I was five I had an encounter with a moose at the zoo...it wasn't pretty.  
"Maybe Mexico instead. The weather's a little warmer."  
"Just drive, Carpenter. But don't take me out of this national border, please."

"Spencer, you haven't said a word for a good hour and thirty minutes. Whats going on? Is it about what happened earlier?" he asks, briefly taking his eyes off the road long enough to find my hand. "Please, baby, talk to me." I flinch at the word 'baby'. That wound is still too open, too new. Then again, if you don't pour the disinfectant on it right away, it'll only get worse farther along. "Actually, there's something really important I need to tell you. I understand if you hate me and never wanna see me again, or just wanna be a part of the baby's life and not get tied down yet but-" Toby slammed the brakes, causing me to fly forward just missing the dashboard my a few centimeters. After a few honks from drivers behind him, he swerves over to a nearby parking lot. "Spencer...did you just say 'the baby'?" he questions, turning to face me in his seat. I didn't respond, just looked out the window watching the birds search the ground. "Spencer, please. Tell me the truth, did you or did you not just say 'the baby'?" Toby's closer to me now, so close I hope he doesn't hear how hard my hearts thumping against my chest, or the panicky voice inside my head. "Yes...I said the baby. As in our baby. I'm pregnant, Toby." Instead if the simple sentence I planned, it comes out all jumbled together like one gigantic word. I reach to put a loose strand of hair behind my ear when my hand grazes my now-wet cheek. Had I been crying? I hadn't cried since I was eight; tear-free since oh-three. "Honey, calm down, please. You're pregnant? Like there's-a-baby-coming-in-nine-months pregnant? Are you sure? Oh my gosh, I'm a father? I AM the father, right? Of course I am, that was a stupid question. Oh my gosh Spencer a baby..." he rambles on and on, but I let him. I sure don't feel like talking, so I'll just let him do it for us both. "That's why Mel kicked me out; we can't afford another being." I say, barely above a whisper. Toby brings my hand to his lips and kisses it softly. "Well, you could always come live with me. My father has a soft spot for children, if you can believe it."  
"Speaking of, don't you think you should tell him? Rip the band-aid off?" He laughs grimly at this and responds with, "The only thing that's getting ripped of is my head. He's going to kill me." He slams his head against the steering wheel, causing the horn to go off. "At least I'll be able to tell the baby their father died for someone he loved." He lifts his head, and for the first time since I've met him, I see tears falling down Toby's cheeks. He's always been sensitive about crying, careful not to do it in front of others. He leans in and kisses my lips, softly at first, then harder. I pull away and smile. "All right, lover boy, take me to the library. You have quite the story to tell your father, and I rather not see you get murdered."

**Bailey wrote this one. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

***WARNING. MAY BE TRIGGERING FOR SELF HARMERS***

**-Ezra's POV-**

Being in the car with Aria, though tricky at times, has been really fun. Making fun of songs on the radio, making new inside jokes that have our abs hurting from laughing, playing those old, childish car games, but actually having fun with them. And of course, that priceless hour where Aria fell asleep, and I got to stare at her every stop light. And we even had a few deep talks. I asked her how she was able to lie to her parents that way and not feel bad.

"Of course I feel bad." She had said. "But the more you lie, the easier it gets."  
"It's like that with every addiction." I say. But I'm not sure why. I know I've just put a thought into her head.  
She sighed and looked down at her wrists, rubbing her finger slightly over the place where multiple cuts have just started to heal. I remember when I saw this set of cuts. (I say 'this set' because they always come in these little groups. They heal, go away, and one day, when I don't expect it, they're back again. Usually worse than before.) this particularly self-harm-binge had been pretty bad. I pulled the car into a McDonalds (our five star meal of the day.) Aria's still staring blankly at her almost-healed arms.  
"I'm sorry I brought it up..." I say.  
She nods and tries to shake it off. "Yeah, So anyway, I do feel bad about lying. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to see her boyfriend. So I do it. Although it was kinda hard this time.." she sighed and got out her purse, ready to go into McDonalds.

But now we've just pulled into the motel, and checked in. Then we carried in the bags we needed for the night, and went up to our room. Aria flops down on the bed head first and sighs. "I want to go for a run." She says. At least I think it's what she said. She's still speaking into her pillow. "And I WOULD if I had any idea where we were, and if I had energy. I just wanna stretch my legs!"  
I fall right next to her, but on my back. "Yes, Aria. I'm sure sitting in a car for nine hours is so exhausting! How are you even still awake? Maybe cause of that nap you had.." I joke.  
"Hey!" she sits up. "I drove for like, four hours. And YOU slept for two and a half of them."  
"I know, I know. I was kidding." She smiles and lays her head on my chest.  
I rub up and down her arm, and soon, she's sound asleep.  
I untangle myself from her, and turn on the tv. I watch for a bit, but I get distracted. I think about how now that it's summer, Aria can't hide under long sleeves and pants anymore. So she's been trying to quite her addiction quickly. But even though her arms haven't had any new cuts for three weeks, I'm not convinced the rest of her hasn't gotten a beating recently. I want to look on her stomach, since I believe that's where she's been doing it recently. She's been wearing shorts and tank tops, because of the weather, so I'm fairly sure that I'd find some on her stomach. I don't want to invalid her privacy, but Aria's never been secretive about her addiction to cutting. She'd never lie or hide them from me. She says I'm the only one who knows. And it think maybe that's why she'll talk about it to me. Like if she can't talk to SOMEONE she'll explode. So, I try to slip up her shirt without making her wake up. I use the light from my phone to see.  
And sure enough, they're there. Some new, some old. Some probably as fresh as last night. And right across the right side of her rib cage is written "Freedom." I sigh to myself and return to my spot on the bed. She wakes up a little, and she repositions herself to be laying on my chest again. I kiss her forehead and wish so badly I could give her the freedom she wants. Then I remind myself, that's exactly what I'm trying to do.

*Notes*

Please comment and let me know what you think about the Self Harm story line.

Written by: Anna


	6. Chapter 6

**-Toby's POV-**

I get into my truck to drive home from where I dropped Spencer off at the library, ready to face the tornado I'll create.  
"What have I gotten myself into?" I say to myself, pulling out of her driveway. "A baby… Now? Of all times? How am I suppose to take care of a baby? Afford a baby? What's my dad gonna say?"  
As I pull onto the rode my house is on, I pull off to the side of the road and turn the car off. "What do I say?" I think to myself, "What will HE say? What will he DO?" then I start to wonder will he be mad? Or happy? Even a little excited maybe? As I sit there in my car, I think of all the types of scenarios of what could happen. *BANG!* I turn and look out the window to see my neighbor, Chuck. I open the door to talk to him. "Hey Toby, I almost got you there" He's been trying to scare me by banging on my window for the past month now, but so far has not been successful.  
"Only in your dreams, Chuck." I tell him.  
"So what's up?" He asks. "Why are you stopped down here?"  
"Nothing, just thinking about stuff." I say.  
"Oh, it can't be nothing if you are stopped down this far." He says "Tell me what's up?"  
I think about whether or not I should tell him. You see, Chuck was an older man, a retired marine, and had a wife and a couple kids. I figured if there was anyone I could talk to about it, It would probably be him.  
"Its my girlfriend, Spencer. She's..." I pause for a second "she's pregnant." His eyebrows raise as he looks at me probably wondering if this is just some joke I was trying to pull.  
"Have you told your father yet?" he asks.  
I shake my head. "That's why I'm stopped down here. I was trying to think of how to tell him."  
"Well" he says "I know things have gotten tough between you and your dad since your mom isn't around that often"  
My mom had gotten a job away from home and only got to make it back around every so often for a weekend or such, and I didn't really get to talk to her that much because of it. You'd think it'd be ridiculous for a mother to get a job out of state, leaving her husband and two sons. My mom and dad don't get along well to say the least. I don't blame my mom for wanting far away from my dad. He's always lashing out at all of us. Which is why I'm dreading telling him. Not that he cares about what happens in my life, I'm sure he doesn't. But he jumps at the chance to yell at me for anything that even closely resembles a mistake.  
"Yeah, We were kind of starting to get along, but I think he's just going to lose it over this." I tell Chuck, bringing myself back into the conversation. "Do you have any ideas on how I could make it go as smooth as it can?"  
He thinks for a second, "Well I would say just to go in and tell him as soon as you get home, and give him the news as best as you can think of."  
"Yeah" I say "I guess that's all I really can do."  
"Well" he says to me "I hope it goes well for you and everything all works out for you and your girlfriend."  
"Thanks." I tell him.  
As he starts to walk away I close my door and turn the car back on and drive down the road and pull into my driveway and turn my truck off again. I open the door and get out rather slowly shut it and walk to the front door of my house. I stand there for a minute just kind of staring at the door handle trying to give myself a little pep talk before I speak to my father, I open the door and go in and find my dad in the kitchen making a sandwich. "oh boy" I think to myself Perfect place to tell him; plenty of knives easily accessible if he decides he wants to kill me. I walk up and stand there for a couple seconds.  
"Son?" he asks, turning around.  
"Sir?" I reply.  
"Is there something you are wanting to talk about or are you just going to stand there staring at me?" he asks.  
"There is" I tell him "You remember meeting my girlfriend Spencer, right?"  
"Yes" he replies "what about her?"  
"Well" I pause to take a deep breath "she's kind of… pregnant"  
"Kind of?" he inquires "or is?"  
"She is pregnant." I tell him trying to be ready for any thing he might try and throw at me.  
"Is the child yours?"  
"It is"  
"And what are you going to do now that she is pregnant? Are you guys going to spilt up?"  
"No. I would not break up with her for over something like this, of all times not now." I tell him slightly raising my voice. I want to add "I'm not like you, I don't leave the girl I love when things get hard." But I don't.  
He stands there for a second looking into my eyes. "You really love that girl don't you?"  
I stand there for a second puzzled at what he said. "Yes" I finally answer. "Yes I do and with all of my heart."  
"Then you make sure you take good care of her and that baby." He tells me as he walks away.  
I stand there for a minute going over what just happened in my head and wondering why I wasn't laying on the floor dead with every kitchen knife we owned. After about a minute I walked to my room shut the door and laid down on my bed to make more sense of what's happening.

by: Jon


	7. Chapter 7

**-Aria's POV-**

"Hey, Arrriia?" Ezra says. I take out my headphones and put down by book. I had been reading while Ezra was on the phone with his Uncle John, I.E. the uncle who owns and lives on this farm. "Yeah?" I ask.  
"Guess where we are?"  
"Where?" I ask.  
"Kansas."  
I smile and do a little victory dance. "Where in Kansas?" I ask. I had stopped looking at maps or asking where we were hours ago. We had started driving at seven am, and it's around six thirty pm now.  
"We're about forty minutes from the farm."  
"Really?!" I ask.  
"Really really." he says. I smile and start packing up my stuff, only leaving my phone out.  
"So," I say, turning to face Ezra. "What else did your Uncle say?"  
"Well," Ezra says. "He said Aunt Betty is cooking us dinner as we speak."  
"I can't wait to have a good, home cooked meal!"  
He laughs. "Yeah. I guess. So, I gotta warn you… Chris, my cousin, he's going through a bit of a phase. He might not be the friendliest to you. Or anyone. And Peter… well.. He's… quiet."  
"quiet?"  
"Yeah. I don't think he really talks. Like, at all."  
"Like, ever?"  
"Aunt Betty says they have to yank any kind of words out of him lately. They're worried about him. They're actually hoping us coming will help."  
"Hmm.." I say. "What about school?"  
"He's home schooled. But I think they're considering sending him back to school if he can't snap out of this soon."  
I nod and begin digging through my bag for some make up.  
"Does your grandpa still live with them?"  
"Yup." He says.  
"So it's your Aunt, Uncle, Grandpa and two cousins?"  
"Yeah." He says. "And plenty of cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, a couple dogs and a really creepy black cat."  
"Sounds like fun." I say, but I can hear the sarcasm in my own voice.  
I pull out some foundation and start covering up the cuts on my fore arm.  
"Hey, Ezra? Do you know if she'll let us share a room?"  
He stops at a red light and answers  
"Uh… I guess we'll find out… they're pretty religious if you know what I mean. But they're also laid back and a sucker for romance." He speaks with his eyes locked on what I'm doing. I look up.  
"What?" I ask.  
"Isn't that gonna hurt them?" he asks.  
I shrug. "I think they're healed enough. Besides, can't have your family seeing them…"  
We stare at each other for a minute then we hear a honk behind us, and we turn to see the light has turned green. He starts driving again and I lay back and sigh. "They won't judge you." He says.  
"Yeah, I know. They'll stick me at an in-patient hospital."  
"They would not."  
"They'd gather around me and start praying."  
he laughs. "Maybe Aunt Betty. But really Aria. They've been through that before. They can handle it."  
"Been through what?"  
"Dealing with Self harm. Chris did it. Almost died once. Although that wasn't his intention."  
"Oh. I didn't know that."  
He nods. "So if you ever want help…" he takes my hand. "Aunt Betty is the one who helped Chris."  
"Apparently it didn't help, cause now he's drinking. He just switched from one self harm to the other. From cutting to drinking."  
He sighs. "I'm just saying. You don't have to hide."  
"hiding is the only thing I know HOW to do. I mean look at us, Ezra! I just got off the phone a minute ago and told her that Hanna and I were stopping for coffee on our way to Texas."  
He looks over at me, at a loss for words. He sighs and looks back at the rode. "But remember. We're coming here to find ourselves. Find out what's been going on with our lives. Maybe you have to hide and lose yourself before you can find yourself."  
"Exactly.." I say. "And that's why I'm hiding these. And maybe one day they'll be lost and never return."

Written by: Anna

**-TOBY'S POV-**

After laying on my bed staring out the window blankly for half an hour, I can't take it anymore. My dad has left the house, and I'm dying for someone to talk to. I think about walking over to Chuck, but I figure I need someone I can trust. And that someone is George, my brother. I dial his cell and wait. "Hello?" He answers.  
"Hey, can you come home?" I ask.  
"Not really. I just started my shift at the shop and dad's not gonna let me take off after missing work yesterday for that date."  
"George." I say. "Please. It's important. Get someone to cover for you."  
There's silence on the other line. I'm not surprised when he doesn't ask what's wrong. He doesn't have to. I'd never ask him to come home early unless something was really wrong.  
"How about I take an EXTREAMILY early break and we meet at star bucks and talk there?" He says. I agree, and drive over.  
As I sit there waiting for my brother I look around Gordon's café, a nice little coffee shop but very small a little hole in the wall kind of place that the normal every day in a hurry people wouldn't see. Ding, I hear the front door open and look to see my brother George walking towards me. He sits down. "Must be important if you wanted to meet up here" he says. I only met him here when I had something really important I want to talk about. Like the time I told him Alison, my first love had gone missing. Or when mom told me the news about moving away, and it was up to me to break it to George.  
"So what's up?" he asks "why did you want to talk to me so bad?"  
"Well" I tell him "I'm not really sure how to say this"  
"Just say it bro" he tells me "what's up? What's bothering you?"  
"Its Spencer" I say.  
"Oh man, she didn't break up with you did she?" he asks.  
"No" I tell him with a grin "she didn't break up with me"  
"Well spit it out man, what?" he asks again.  
"She's..." I pause for a moment "She's pregnant, George."  
"Oh" he says as he brings his jaw back up into place "have you told dad yet?"  
"Yeah, right before I asked you to meet me here" I tell him.  
"And what did he say?" he asks.  
So I told him the story of what happened and what my dad said. When I was done he looked at me in shock.  
"That's really what he did?" he inquires  
"yeah" I say while chuckling "that's really what he did"  
"well that's like the shock of the century." He laughs.  
"I know right?" I say "but really what do you think?"  
"well" he says "I know how much you love her and I know how much you will take care of her so I'm not really worried, but if you ever need any help I'm happy to oblige, I'm always here for you bro"  
"Thanks, I know you are" I tell him as the waiter comes up to take our order.

Written by: Jon

Thank you all for reading and reviewing :)


	8. Chapter 8

Ezra pulls up to the little farm in the middle of no where Kansasvill. Actually it's Goodland Kansas, but it seriously is almost in the middle of no where. It's gonna be good though, I think. I mean Rosewood is a little itty bitty town, in the middle of everywhere. You run into people you know, love, hate, are trying to avoid, or are trying to get to know every place you go. But here? I think I might like it here. Ezra's family is really nice. Well at least what I've heard of them. I only talked to them once, when his Aunt Betty called to wish me a Merry Christmas. That was really sweet. But I hear Peter, the little eight year old boy, has suddenly stopped talking. They said if you force him to, he will talk a little. But the only person he will willingly talk to is his grandpa. And that's not the most comforting feeling, because Ezra's grandpa, Bill, has been going a little crazy since his wife died two years ago. Who wouldn't though, right? Right now, Grandpa Bill is in the hospital. I think he fell off a horse or something. But he's gonna be ok, and I guess I'll meet him in a few days. And then there's Chris, their seventeen year old son, is quite the trouble maker. Well, not necessarily trouble maker. They say he likes to stay in him room a lot, when he's actually home. They said he was 'Sociable with everyone except the family.' And that he likes to 'stay out late and sleep it off.' They made him sound like a typical teenager, but when I asked Ezra about it, he set me straight and told me he was "Sleeping off a hang over." But surprisingly, he does amazingly well in school grade wise, but gets himself in loads of trouble mostly every day. He used to be big into sports, and is fairly good looking. So why's he messing up his own life? Who knows. But I guess we're about to find out, since we've just parked the car and Ezra's Aunt and Uncle are both walking towards with big, kinda cheesy, smiles.  
We both get out of the car and they greet us. And I'm only slightly surprised when Betty hugs me like she's known me for years. "Oh, Ezra!" she gushes. "You sure got yourself a beautiful girlfriend here!" I smile, slightly embarrassed, and luckily the attention is now directed towards coming inside. It's blazing hot out here, and I'm glad I'm wearing shorts, or else I'd be ducking back into the car for some AC. We carry our important bags into the house, and we enter the front door and are in the kitchen.  
No sooner than we open the door, Chris runs down the stairs, bucket in hand, and is stopped by Ezra's Uncle John. "Now, you go greet your cousin and his girlfriend. She's family now." John gives me a wink and pushes Chris forward. For all the drinking Ezra says he does, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him. He looks a little like John and Ezra, same deep blue eyes. Must run in the family.  
"Ezra, nice to see you. How's Daniel?" Chris asks, reaching to shake Ezra's hand. Ezra's arms stay locked to his sides, fists clenched. Daniel, Ezra's older brother, was a recovering drug addict. Whenever someone mentions Daniel, he changes the subject. Ezra hates his brother. You'd think the family of someone with an addiction would be loving and supporting, right? Well, turns out Daniel stole money from their mother. Last time Ezra saw him was when Daniel boarded the plane to Chicago, where his dad lived. Not a visit, phone call, or even an email since. "H-h-hey, I didn't mean it like that.. I just thought maybe he came back…" An awkward silence passed through the room. I feel the awkwardness beginning to turn into something else, something worse, when a small, black cat wanders in and rubs her head against my leg.  
"Hi kitty!" I bend down and pick her up. "What's her name?"  
"Lila" Betty answers, and sends me an appreciative smile for breaking the silence. Something tells me there's always tenseness between the two cousins. "So John," I say, in an attempt to get everyone back on track. "I heard the farm's gorgeous in the summer."  
"Sure is. I'll have Chris show you two around after you unpack." he nods his head towards our suitcases.  
"Actually," Ezra takes the suitcase from my hand and grabs his own. "You can go with him, I'll unpack for you." Ezra shot Chris a glare then darted up the stairs.  
"Well, follow me and we'll be on our way." Chris says, opening the door for me and leading me outside.  
For such a small town, the Fitz Farm was huge. Probably bigger than the town itself. Prettier, too. Acres and acres of luscious green grass spread as far as far as you could see and beyond. Chris leads us into the barn and past a few goat pens all the way to the very back, where a cow stands with her calf. "This here's Jackie. Had her for about…six years? Yeah, I'd say so." Chris grabs a stool from the corner and pulls it besides Jackie. Why does that name sound so familiar? "We got 'er last time Ezra and Aunt Esther came out for a visit. Ezra was going through this horrible break up with his fiancé. Girl cheated on him with his roomate." Chris placed the bucket under Jackie and started milking her. "ohh…" I thought to myself. That's right. Ezra told me all about Jackie after I found her Facebook. What a way to take out your frustration on a cheating mate, naming an animal after her. Chris lifted his head and turned to me.  
"Wanna try? She won't bite." he flashed me a smile, identical to the one Ezra has.  
"Um, sure." Chris stood up and switched me places.  
"Now just reach down under there, squeeze and pull. That's it." Chris instructed. A small stream of milk come from her udder. "I don't know how useful milking a cow would be in Rosewood, but at least you'll know how to do it." he take his hat, runs his fingers through his hair, and puts the hat back on. "Maybe you could get Ezra to buy a cow and keep it in your apartment. She could sleep in the bed." I smile, and hand the bucket to Chris.  
"Ha. Ezra barely let's ME sleep in his bed, let alone a cow." I follow Chris out of the barn, past a pond with ducks floating in it, and to a hen house.  
"He makes you sleep on the couch? That's cold." Chris states, climbing inside. I follow, puzzled by his question. Did Ezra really not tell them I'm only seventeen?  
"I actually live with my parents and my little brother."  
"Hmm.. That's out of the ordinary, still living with the folks. I know after I graduate highschool I'm leaving, livin' on my own." Chris turns and motions toward a basket sitting on a sack of chicken feed. I hand it to him and he resumes talking. "There's only so much solitude you can take, y'know? When did you graduate, anyway? I don't remember seeing you in Ezra's yearbook he left here." Chris asks, lifting up a hen, and taking the egg.  
"I actually graduate next year…just finished Junior year." I bite my lip and wait for his reaction. When I met Esther, Ezra's mom, she assumed the same thing. She didn't react like my parents did, but still refused to let us out of her sight. "So cousin Ezra's a craddle robber? Didn't see that one coming." Chris laughs good-naturally, but I still take offense. This is what I was worrying about, people making jokes or judging without knowing anything. That's usually how it is, anyway. "I didn't expect you to be so young, either. Very mature. I see why Ezra likes you so much." Chris collects the remaining eggs and puts the basket with the pail of milk. "This," He picks up the last hen. "Is Becky. We've had her since I was your height." He winks and I roll my eyes. Short jokes. Heard 'em all. "I brought her home one day, before we had all the others. Kept her in a shoe box under my bed for a few days, then mom decided to vacuum. Scared mom half to death. Could say the same for Becky." he set her gently down and pet her wing. "There's one last place I'll show you, then we'll head back inside." Chris grab my hand and pulls me along, weaving through trees with old tire swing tied to them, bushes, crops, and a few flower beds. "This," he pushes a metal door and steps inside. "Is the stable." a black horse lays in the corner, tail swishing. "That's Lucky. She's been here longer than I have. That's why she's laying down, see? Very unusual for a horse to even think of getting on the ground." Chris states, dropping my hand and walking over to her. "She hasn't been well lately. Grandpa thinks it's almost time for her to go, poor thing. He picks up a brush and runs it over her mane a few times.  
"She's beautiful. The only horse I've ever seen is the one mechanical one outside of Publix." Slowly, Lucky stands up, trots over and nudges my hand. I run my hand along her back a few times before she retread back to her pile of hay.  
"That's weird. She usually doesn't like anybody but us."  
I just shrug, and walk out of the stable to the house.  
The way Ezra described Chris, I thought he'd be really cold. But Chris sure talks a lot, and he's friendly too. Maybe Ezra just really doesn't like him. Or maybe Chris is a good actor. But now we're back in the house and Ezra's sitting in the kitchen with Betty and John. He seems to have loosened up a bit, and Chris doesn't mess with him anymore. He smiles at me again and heads back outside.  
"Got the tour?" Betty asks.  
"Yeah." I smile. "You have a beautiful farm, Betty."  
"Oh, please, call me Aunt Betty. And that goes for Uncle John, too. If my nephew Ezra here considers you family, so do we."  
I smile. "Ok, Thanks Aunt Betty."  
She smiles back and Ezra smiles up at me too. And I'm thinking to myself, hey, maybe the middle of no where Kansasvill is where I'll be spending my summer. And I'll even ENJOY it. Who knew?

This one was by Bailey and Me. I wrote the first half and she wrote the second half. :) Thank you for your comments. I read every one of them and they make me smile :)


	9. Chapter 9

**-Aria's POV-**

"I am so sorry," Aunt Betty starts. "But just an hour before you got here, we remembered we have a very important church even tonight. And afterwards we need to go visit Grandpa. He says he's not lonely, but I think he could use a visit." She says. "We really do have to go. But I figure you guys need some times to unpack and rest and such anyway."  
"Oh, that's alright Aunt Betty." Ezra says.  
"Yeah." I say. "I'm up for a nap anyway."  
"So then it's ok?" She asks.  
"Of course." Ezra says.  
"Thanks, you two. I need to get a move on. Chris is coming with us, and as you already know, Peter isn't home tonight. He's at his friends house." her eyes get sad. "it's the strangest thing. He's completely normal around Tommy, his little friend. But when he's not…" She shakes her head. It's awkward and silent again, same like when we first arrived. But this time it's Uncle John who breaks it by coming downstairs.  
"See y'all soon, alright?" He shakes Ezra's hand and waves to me, heads out the door.  
"I didn't leave you hungry though," She says. "There's a surprise in your room. Now we'll be back around nine. Have fun. But not too much fun!" she gives us a warning look. "Although we have two guest rooms, you're more than welcome to share a room if it makes you more comforted. But I do ask you respect my views and not sleep together in my house." She says looking strictly at Ezra.  
I try not to show my shock, but instead just nod.  
"Don't worry." Ezra says. I want to add that we wouldn't even think of it anyway. But I don't. Yet it kinda bothers me how she'd think we planned on that. Did I, or Ezra and I, give her a vibe that we would? Or maybe it's just simply because we're teenagers. Maybe that's all it is.  
"Alright then, I won't." She smiles and says her goodbyes and drives off with Uncle John and Chris.  
Ezra wraps his arms around me and sighs. "That's enough excitement for one day. Ain't it?"  
I laugh and hug him back. "Ezra Fitz, don't you dare ever say ain't again! We may be on a farm, but don't you dare start talking like that!"  
"Alright fine." we hold hands and walk up the stairs to our room.  
"So, Ezra, no to bring up a sore subject, but what's up with you and Chris? I mean come on, he's MY age. Can't you be mature and not fight with him?"  
"I didn't FIGHT with him."  
"You would've if I hadn't been there."  
"See? So I CAN control it."  
"Still, Ezra. Let it go. For me. Please?"  
he sighs. "Ok. Only for you."  
I smile and hug him. "Thank you."  
He opens the door and we go in our room. Instantly, we smell the delisious home-made dinner sitting on a tray on our bed. As if we were a married couple, we get into more comfortable clothes, lay in bed, talk and eat.  
"I could get used to this." I say.  
"Yeah, well don't." Ezra says. "Uncle John is going to make us help out as long as we're here."  
I shrug. I set my empty plate aside and cuddle up next to Ezra. "Does that mean I get to see you shirtless?" I joke.  
He laughs. "Sure, why not."  
We try to stay awake for them to get back, but it's not even a minute past nine when I'm fast asleep. Although I do wake up around eleven and see that Ezra's not there. But the lights are on downstairs, and I can hear him laughing and talking with Aunt Betty and Uncle John. I consider going down to say goodnight, but then figure Ezra's probably already told them I was asleep, so then I just roll over and go back to sleep, and I'm actually excited to wake up in the morning.

* * *

**-Toby's POV-**

After meeting with my brother, I head over to the library to pick Spencer back up. I have no idea where I can take her. Obviously, my parents won't let her stay at my house.  
Maybe we can just go camping. Right by the lake that my 'child' was conceived in. Ok, maybe not the best spot.  
I park my truck and text Spencer that I'm here. I turn off my truck and wait. I try to take this time to think, think about the future, what's going to happen.. But it's like my mind is spinning, I can't focus, can't even stay on one thought. But luckily I'm not stuck alone in the car with my thoughts for long. Spencer comes out of the library, starring down at the ground as she walks. She gets in the car. "Hey." She says.  
I start the truck. "Hey."  
"How'd it go with your dad? You were gone a long time."  
"Yeah, sorry.." I say. "I talked to my dad then went to get coffee with George."  
"You told him too?"  
"Yeah…"  
"And neither of them killed you?"  
"Nope."  
"Wow. So, how'd your dad take it?"  
"Surprisingly well. He was like, actually cool about it… it was like…" I trail off.  
"Like what?" She asks. Patience was never her thing.  
"Like the old dad. When I was younger. And we got along…"  
she gives a sympathetic look, but doesn't say anything.  
"So where am I driving to?" I say, pulling out of the parking space.  
"I have no idea." She says. "I guess we could go to my place." she pauses and looks out the window. "I mean Melissa's."  
"But what about Melissa? Won't she throw something at us?"  
"She's working."  
"She didn't take your key?"  
"She was too drunk to think clear enough to, apparently."  
"Or maybe she was hoping you'd come back."  
she laughs and rolls her eyes. "Doubt it. But I did leave some stuff there. I'd kinda like to get it."  
"And it'll buy time while we figure out where we're going to go." I add.  
She sits up straighter in her seat. "Hey, I have an idea."  
"And that is?"  
"You know how Aria and Fitz went to his family's Farm in Kansas? I thought maybe -"  
"Spencer," I stop her. "didn't they go to the farm to get AWAY from Rosewood? I don't think they want us to follow them there."  
"But Toby!" she says. "Aria and I are best friends. She won't mind."  
"You can ask, Spence. I don't mind getting away from here." I look out the window and sigh. "Trust me. The less time I'm around my dad, the less headaches I get."  
She laughs, but I didn't find it funny.

We ride the rest of the way to the apartment in silence. But when we get there, Spencer unlocks the door and we go in. she does a quick look-around for Melissa, and then we got up to her room and pack the rest of her stuff. After she's done and we're about to leave, she scrpibbles out a note and leaves it on the counter. And when she goes up to take one last look at her room, I sneak a glace at it.

"Mel,

I just came to get some more stuff. If you need me, you know where to find me.

Love, Spence."

This one was by me, Anna :)


	10. Chapter 10

**-Ezra's POV-**

You know in those movies that takes place on a farm, they're usually the same? Country talk, overalls, chewing straw, all that stuff. Well luckily, this farm's just about as modern as it gets.  
So I'm surprised when a real live roaster crows at six in the morning. But Aria and I both moan, and fall back to sleep. And of course, no one comes in and wakes up. But we don't abuse the late sleep in,  
and we're both up, showered and dressed by nine and in the kitchen chatting with Aunt Betty, drinking coffee and eating eggs that were collected yesterday. After only a few minutes, Peter comes wandering  
in from outside. "Hey little buddy!" I say. I hold out my hand and surprisingly Peter gives me a high-five.  
"How're you doing?"  
Peter just shrugs. I didn't expect him to answer anyway.  
"Peter," Aunt Betty says. "This is Aria, Ezra's girlfriend."  
Peter waves and smiles at her.  
"Now come and sit down." She tells him. "Here's your math for the day." she hands him a few work sheets. He silently starts working on them and Aunt Betty continues to make small talk. But Uncle John  
comes in and asks us if we'd be willing to help. Of course, we agree and head outside with him. He asks us to go milk the cows, so Aria and I head over to the barn and do exactly that. We pick some  
vegitables, feed some pigs and the chickens. And around noon, he pats us on the back and tells us thanks for the help, and we're off the hook for the rest of the day. We're just finishing up lunch when Aria's  
phone rings. She answers it happily. "Hey!" She says."It's Spencer." She whispers to me. She chats a little more then her face falls. She excuses herself and goes up to our room. I stay behind and do the  
dishes for Aunt Betty. But its not too long before Chris comes stumbling down the stairs. "Hey." He mutters.  
"Did you just wake up?" I ask, but I don't know why I do. No use in even talking to him, or else we'll probably fight.  
"Yup."  
"It's almost one o' clock." I tell him.  
He shrugs. "I was up late."  
"drinking?" I ask.  
He stares at me, and I know I've got the upper hand now. that's when I realize Peter has looked up from his work and is watching us with intrest. He's so quiet I forget he's there.  
But then I look back at Chris, REALLY look at him, and can tell by his tired blood shot eyes that he's really hung over. I remember being little, and Daniel, my brother, Chris and I were as close as we could possibly be, being our age differences. I'm about five years older than Chris, and Daniel is two years older than me. But we managed like brothers and cousins do. We all lived in Philidalphia, Pennsilviana till Daniel left home, and Chris moved away just two years ago. We all got along perfectly until we all parted ways. Back then, when we were little, this farm was run and owed by Grandpa and Grandma Fitz, and their hired workers. Until Grandma died, and Grandpa kinda lost it. So Aunt Betty and Uncle John took their kids and moved up here to run the farm. They took away my younger  
cousin, right after my big brother had left…  
Finally, I sigh. "Sit down." I tell him.  
"What?"  
"Just sit…" I say.  
He obeys, and sits next to his brother.  
"Juice or coffee?" I ask him. "You need to drink one to help with the hang -"  
"I know, Ezra." he says like I'm stupid. "I do this all the time."  
"Fine then." I say, opening the front door. "Make your own coffee." I close it behind me and take a walk over to the barn. I sit and pet the horses, remembering all the times we had in here. Since we all lived in PA, we'd usually all come here every summer to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I go over to a spot in the corner we all liked. Daniel, being the oldest, would always drag a pile a hay over to the corner and stand on it, look down on us and give us our orders for cleaning the barn. Even though we had already gotten our chore list for the day. He wanted to look over us and boss us around. I never complained, but little Chris stood up to him every time. Finally, I drag an old pike of hay over to the old spot. I stand on it, and look around. It's weird seeing things how my brother sees them. Or saw them, I guess. I sit down on the hay and look around the barn that never changes. not physically anyway. But the times spent in here sure have. I'd give anything to have things be this way again. Even if I meant giving Daniel or even Chris the upper hand. Even when Daniel was on top, he'd offer his hand down and pull me up. I miss that. A lot.

**-Aria's POV-**

I hear my phone ring, and I'm happy to see it's Spencer calling. I really miss the girls a lot, and I've been texting them a lot, specially when I was in the car. But I know a summer without them will be painful.  
"Hey!" I say.  
"Life's awful." She replies.  
"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for asking." I joke.  
"Sorry. How are you, Aria? Is Goodland everything you hoped?" She asks half sarcastic and half serious.  
"I guess so." I say looking at Ezra and smiling. "Alright now tell me, what's up with you?"  
"What's up with me? I just ruined my future, that's whats up! How could I be so stupid? I just threw everything I've ever worked for in the trash, for what? To not finish high school? Stay at home, hoping things will get better? Yeah, Melissa kicked me out today. THAT'S what's up with me."  
"Spence! Come on. Why'd Melissa kick you out?"  
"Because she can barely afford basic cable, let alone a baby."  
I feel my face fall, and I get up and start up the stairs. "Wait… Is Melissa…" I go in the room and close the door. "Pregnant?"  
"I wish. No wait, I take that back. I couldn't handle two of her."  
"Wait then, are YOU?!"  
"Shocking isn't it? I always thought Hanna would have the first child. Or maybe you, the way you and Fitzy go at it."  
"I take great offence to that. Just so you know." I sit on my bed and sigh. "But come on. Be serious. Is this a joke? Are you really... Pregnant?"  
"Yup…" I can hear her trying to hid the pain in her voice, covering up her problem with jokes.  
"I don't believe you…" I say, but I think I'm trying to make myself NOT believe her. "I'm calling Toby. Wait…" I pause. "Does he even know?"  
"Of course I told him. I don't think showing up on his doorstep nine months later and saying 'Hey! Here's your baby!' would blow over so well."  
I lay back and sigh. "Oh, Spencer…" I shake my head. "I'm sorry…"  
She doesn't say anything for a while. I think she's probably crying.  
"It is what it is." She finally says.  
"Where are you staying? If Em and Han are in TX, I'm here, and sleeping outside is less scary than sleeping in the same house as Toby's dad. Where are you gonna go?"  
"Well…I hear Kansas has good weather this time of year."  
I wanna laugh and say "No, it really doesn't." But I can't bring myself to even think that this is a joking matter. "I'll ask Aunt Betty if you can come."  
"Thanks, Aria.." She says.  
"Welcome.." I sigh. "I'll talk to you later…"  
We hang up and I fall onto my pillow, and cry.

I don't know how long I sit in the room, finally I decided to go and find Ezra. I guess it's obvious I'm upset by the way I walk in.  
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asks.  
I sits on the hay next to Ezra and make a face.  
"Not the most comfortable seat is it?" he asks. I shakes my head. He picks me up and sets me on his lap.  
"Do you think your Aunt will let Spencer come stay with us too…?" I ask.  
"Aww…" He says. "Do you miss her?"  
"Well, yeah… but that's not it… I'm actually serious… she needs somewhere to stay for a while.."  
"Why?" he asks.  
"She got kicked out…"  
"Why?" he asks again.  
"Well…." I look away from him. "She told Melissa she was pregnant and Mel threw bags in her face and told her to pack and hit the rode."  
"Whoa, wait. Spencer's pregnant?!"  
I nod. His eyes widen. "gosh.." he sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "That's too bad. Poor Spencer."  
"And Melissa…" I add.  
"And Toby."  
I nod.  
"Are you sure Melissa won't let her move back in? maybe she just overreacted."  
"Maybe" I say. "But regardless, I think she needs to get away for a while. Like we did."  
I stand up and go over and pet Lucky. Ezra follows my lead.  
"Hearing news like that really shakes me up…" He says. "And I'm sure you too. But not just because of your friend being pregnant. But hearing something like that…" he sighs. "It reminds me why we don't do it. Why we haven't had sex yet."  
I nod. "Yeah, I guess it does. It's not like we don't have sex just so I don't end up pregnant. But it's definatly nice that there's no chance of it this way."  
He nods. "Just think… if we had done it that one time…." he shakes his head. "That may be us."  
I stare at the ground. He senses my sadness and says "But we would've been just fine… and so will Spencer. She's strong. Just like you. And Toby's a good guy."  
"Just like you." I smile. He smiles back.  
"But…" I say.  
"But what, babe?"  
"One day we'll have sex, right?"  
He thinks about it for a second. "I believe we will, yes. Just not right now. Like we agreed."  
"But once I'm 18, and it's not illegal, and once my parents are ok with… US… and when we've been together long enough to know that there's a good chance we'll get married… then we will right?"  
He nods. "When those three things happen, then of course we will. But you have to admit, it's a good thing we didn't do it when we were thinking about doing it. Or else you could be the one pregnant."  
"I think we should talk about Spencer, not us…"  
"Okay.." He says. "Well, Aunt Betty's in the flower garden. I bet if you help her, she'd be even more willing to let them stay."  
"Them?"  
"Yeah. You might wanna ask if Toby can stay too. You know how his dad is. He might wanna get away trip too. It can't hurt to ask."  
So I stroll over to where Aunt Betty is.  
"Aunt Betty?" I ask.  
"Oh, Aria! Hello!"  
"Need some help?" I ask.  
"Oh, no thanks. I'm just finishing up. How about some lemonaid in the house?"  
"ok.." I agree.  
We start walking towards the house.  
"I have to ask you something…"  
"Yes?" she answers.  
"You see…" I begin. "My best friend Spencer just called me… and she told me that she's pregnant…"  
She shakes her head. "Oh, boy."  
"Yeah… and she got kicked out of where she was staying.. And she thought that -"  
"And she thought that maybe she could come up here."  
"Kinda…"  
"Well, I say the more the merrier!"  
I try not to act surprised by her answer.  
"What about the boy?"  
"Her boyfriend?"  
"Yeah. Why isn't she staying with him?"  
"Well… his dad… kinda has a tempter. Not the best place for her…"  
"Why doesn't he come too? Her boyfriend?"  
"Really?"  
"Of course. As long as they don't -"  
"Don't worry." I say. "They won't sleep together."  
"Alrighty then. Give me their numbers some time tonight. I'll call them and talk to them first."  
I nod and agree.  
Finally we reach the door to the house. We go inside and she silently pours us glasses of lemonaid.  
"I'll tell ya." She said sitting down and handing me a drink.  
"if I had a dollar for every teenage girl who's pregnant 'round here… I'd be able to sell this farm and move to LA!"  
I listen to Aunt Betty talk and I stare down at the wooden table.  
"Aria, are you alright, dear?"  
I look up. "Yeah…" I lie. "Just thinking."  
"It's hard, isn't it? Your friend being pregnant…"  
I don't know why I decide to open up to Aunt Betty, but I do. Maybe it's the fact that she's so kind. Maybe it's the fact that she's obviously a Christian, and probably has some decent advice. Maybe it's because I'm so desprate for someone to talk to.  
"It is.." I say. "I mean I just found out.. And I feel like my life's come crashing down. I mean she's my best friend. Things are going to be so different now…"  
"I can understand that." and to my surprise she puts her hand on mine. "But it'll be ok."  
I nod. "Yeah, I know she will. Thanks."  
"And you will too.." she says. "I'll be praying for Spencer, and you and everyone else involed."  
I just nod. I don't know if I'm supposed to thank her or anything.

****PLEASE READ** Okay guys, so, this chapter has some self harm and cutting in it. So, if you have or are stuggling with any kind of hurting yourself, PLEASE read with caution. Don't read it if it'll trigger something. It's not worth it. Just skip over this part. But, please comment and let me know what you think about the Self Harm story line. Thanks guys! And like I said, it's triggering, so be careful. **

I excuse myself and go up to my room. I sit and look out the window. Ezra's chatting with Peter and Uncle John. Well, with Uncle John. And Peter's sitting near by digging a hole in the dirt. I assume just for fun.  
I close the curtains, and I go into my little bag full of 'personal things' I know Ezra would never go in there. So I dig around some nail polish bottles and hair clips until I find the box of tampons. I open it up, and pull out the small sharp razor blade I've been using for the past four months now. I brought it with me and hid it in there. I tuck it into my pocket and go into the bathroom. I'm upstairs, and I don't think anyone's near me. Aunt Betty's vacuuming down stairs, Ezra, Peter and Uncle John are still outside, and Chris is most likely sleeping again. Usually, when I'm at home, I cut myself in the shower. It's the best way to do it. There's no blood mess to clean up, and no one gets suspicious. And if it's an emergency and I had to do it at school, I'd usually go into a single person bathroom. They're supposed to be for adults only, but it's not like we get in trouble for usuing it.

But I'd use something else. Not the razor. That razor was and still is only for extream measures. I don't like to bleed that much. The scars are always worse that way. Usually I can do with a simple pair a scissors. But this is extream. I do into the bathroom and lock the door. But I do without usuing the shower as a cover. I sit on the floor and wonder where to do it. My arms would be my first choice. But long sleeves in the summer in Kansas? Ha! Yeah right. I think my best bet is my poor stomach. It's been getting most of the beating lately.

When I'm done, all the blood has stopped, and my razor is placed back in my pocket, I stand up, and look in the mirror. I lift up my shirt and sigh. Four horizontal cuts on the right side of my waist right above my hip. But the newest ones aren't the ones that get my attemtion. It's the word 'freedom' I wrote a while back. It's been a few weeks. And I think this one's going to fade and not scar. It's barely visable anymore. I run my finger over it and wish so badly that I had freedom from this awful addiction. I sit back down on the floor, and start to cry all over again.

By: Anna

_I know this one was pretty long. please let me know if you like chapters long like this one, or shorter. Thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

It's the second morning I've woken up on the farm, and this time when I wake up, Aria's already gone. I'm slightly worried, since

she was really down all day yesterday. I quickly get dressed in my kaki shorts and t-shirt and go down stairs. And to my surprise,

Aria's sitting at the table with Chris, drinking a cup of coffee and laughing at something she's looking at. When I walk into the room

I see Aunt Betty is in there too, also looking at whatever's on the table.

"Hey, Ezra." Chris smiles at me. "Morning." he holds up his cup of coffee. "Want some? I'll make it for you."

I don't answer him. I remember yesterday's conversation, and I wasn't sure if he did until now. I remember saying _Make your own coffee._

Or something to that effect. "No thanks." I finally say. "So, what are you all looking at?" I sit down next to Aria. She looks up and smiles.

"Oh no." I say, seeing the book. "Baby pictures? Really?"

"Not just baby pictures." Aria says. She points to one of me when I was about seven. "You were adorable, Ezra!"

"Yeah, and look," Chris says. He points to a picture of me, him and Daniel.

"So were Daniel and I."

Just yesterday Aria said 'Can't you be mature and not fight with him'

So I look up, smile, and say "Yeah. We were, weren't we?"

He can't think of anything to say, so he looks back to the pictures. I turn the page.

Aria points to a picture and looks to Chris. She looks like her heart has stopped. And I feel like my lungs have emptied of air.

"Is that… Alison?" She asks.

Chris looks like his heart has stopped too. In fact, it looks like his heart has broken.

It's a long time before any of us say anything. Even Aunt Betty is at a loss for words. She stands there, looking curious at

us for a second before speaking. "Did you know her, Aria?" She looks back down at the picture of a 14 year old Alison posing with Chris.

"Yes…" She says. "I knew her very well…"

Chris stands up and walks outside.

And even Aria doesn't seem to care.

"Aunt Betty…" She shakes her head. "I can't believe you guys knew her…"

"Well, Dear…" She says sitting down. "We did live right near Rosewood until two years ago… I think they met one year when

she was up there visiting a friend of hers…" She looks down. "Oh, now I remember. She was with a friend, who also knew Chris…

and that friend took her to church on Sunday… and Chris was there with us… and they hit it off. They exchanged phone numbers,

and the rest was history…" she shakes her head. "They were adorable. The cutest couple ever. On the outside, I guess.

But behind closed walls, they fought a lot. They both always did have tempers and were both stubborn. They had a hard time

getting along. But I'll tell you, my Chris…." She looks out the window, watching him light up a cigarette. "He loved her so much.

And I can only assume she loved him too."

Aria sighs. "That's how we were too…"

Then she tells Aunt Betty about how Emily, Hanna, Spencer, Alison and her were all best friends.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Hon…" she stands up again. "I'm sure glad we got out of that area before all that drama began."

"I wish I had, too…" she sighs.

"Yeah," I say. "But then you would've have met me." I wink and her and make her smile. Aunt Betty goes to get ready for breakfast

with a friend tonight in town, and Aria and I continue looking through the scrap book. And I think she's feeling a lot better about Alison.

But I'm not surprised when she asks if we can stop. "It's just... too many baby pictures." She said. I'm confused for a minute.

"Why do they upset you?" I ask.

"Spencer's pregnant." She gives me a look that says 'duh!'

Finally, we just go outside and help out Uncle John with the morning chores. I look over at her while we're picking from vegetables.

And I can see the sadness in her eyes, and think, not for the first time, that there's very little anyone can do to make her happy anymore


	12. Chapter 12

**-Toby's POV-**

"Toby, turn up the air please?" Spencer asks fanning herself with her book.  
"Spencer, I don't think it goes any higher."  
She moans "It's so hot."  
"No, it's not. Spencer, you're barely pregnant. How are you this hot already?"  
"Cause. Pregnant is pregnant. And when your pregnant your core temp rises and -"  
"ok, I get it. But look, I think this is it. We're here. and we can go inside with nice air conditioning, and you can take a nice cold shower." I pause. "And I'll join you."  
She laughs and we pull up the long dirt driveway.  
We're greeted by Betty and John. We chat for a bit, and then we meet Chris too.  
"Aria and Ezra drove into town for lunch." Betty says. "They were under the impression you weren't coming till later..."  
"Yeah," Spencer says. "We wanted to surprise them." I smile.  
"Yes, Toby told us..." Betty tells Spencer. "So I'll show you to your room. I can only assume you don't mind sharing one..."  
"No, that's alright." I say.  
"Good. Beacuse we only have one more room." She takes us upstairs. She shows us around, and shows us to our room. "Well, I'll let you kids unpack and nap if you need to..." She smiles.  
"Thanks, Betty." Spencer says.  
"I'm really glad to have y'all here, and you two seem very sweet. But Aria and Ezra are here on vacation. You two are staying here out of need for housing. So there are only a few, small  
conditions to us letting you stay here..." She says. We nod and wait. "One, no sex on the farm. Not in the house, or outside, not in the lake, not inside the gates of my farm. I know you're  
pregnant already, but that ain't a good enough reason to go at it all the live long day now."  
"I understand." Spencer says.  
"Me too."  
"Good. And I'd like it if you two came down for meals and such, and, Toby, if you wanted to help out around the farm that'd be great. Spencer, I know you're pregnant and it's awfully hot  
outside here."  
Spencer snickers at me. "told you." She whispers.  
Aunt Betty smiles and keeps talking. "But you can help out around here any time you like. It'd be nice training for you two."  
We nod.  
"And both of your gardians know you're here?"  
I nod. "Well, my mom said okay. And my dad probably knows by now..."  
"And they gave their blessing?"  
I know I got my moms. But I doubt I have my dad's 'blessing'.

***flashback. A day before leaving Rosewood.***

I come into the living room where my dad's watching tv.  
"Hey dad?"  
"What?" he asks.  
"Can I talk to you?"  
"I'm busy." He points to the tv. "I'm sure whatever you need to say can wait."  
So I leave. Fine. If he doesn't want to know where I'm going, that's his deal.  
I go back into my room and angerly shove clothes into my bag.  
"Toby?" George comes in. "What's up?"  
"I'm going to Kansas."  
"Dude, it's not the Wizard of Oz. And there's no storm. So, good luck getting there."  
"I have money saved up. I have my drivers license. I have a truck. I'll get there just fine."  
"Wait. You're serious?"  
I nod. "I want a break from this town."  
"Okay... well stay somewhere closer at least..."  
"I can't spend the money. We have to stay somewhere free. Aria's up in Kansas. We can stay with her."  
"You can't find anywhere closer?"  
"No one around here will take us in. And the few relatives we actually know of live even further than Kansas."  
"Did dad approve this?"  
"Nope."  
"He'll kill you."  
I shake my head, and hold up my cell phone. "Dad doesn't know. But mom said it was fine."  
"Oh, hey, why not stay with mom?"  
"She has a one bed room apartment. And her sister's living there with her. So, that's a no."  
"Well I gotta hand it to you. You made a good decision."  
"Thanks."  
"And if it makes you feel any better... I'm really close to having the money to get my own apartment. Probably by the end of summer. So you can crash with me when you need a break from..."  
He looks out of my room into the living room where my dad finishes off his third beer. "This place."  
"Thanks."  
"Well, I'll miss you, bro."  
"Same here."  
He hugs me, which doesn't happen all that often. Although, George and I are pretty close brothers. With our dad the way he is, and our mom never home, we had to pull together. And I do feel  
bad about leaving him here with dad. But I have to get out of here. And I have to get Spencer, and my baby, out of here too.  
"Hey, George?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do me a favore and keep this quiet until I'm gone? I'd like to avoid one last big blow out before I leave."  
"Of course."  
"Thanks..."  
He nods. "Alright now, y'all have a good ol' time out in the farm lands, ya hear?"  
I laugh and keep packing.

***End flashback***

"My mom said it was okay."  
"Yeah, and I left my sister a note." Spencer says. She kicked me out a few days ago.. as you know.. so I think that counts as being allowed to go wherever. But she has the farms phone number  
and my cell number so..."  
"Good." Betty says. "Well, y'all are free to go now. Enjoy your stay here at Fitz Farm."

*****  
"Spencer, stop. You heard what Betty said; no sex."  
Spencer gives me a mischievous grin and lifts her t-shirt over her head. "This isn't sex. We're just saving water by showering together. No big deal, right?" She steps in the shower and closes the  
curtain. The only person home was Aunt Betty, and she was napping, downstairs, with the tv on. What where the chances we'd get caught?  
I strip off my jeans, shirt, and boxers, and get in the shower with Spencer.  
"You know, I could get used to seeing you like this." She laughs. "Well, don't. Soon enough I'll be big fat and pregnant." She turns around and wets her hair. "So enjoy it while you have it." I take  
my hands and run them over her waist and hips. "Oh, I will."  
I kiss her lips softly, then work my way down her neck to her sweetspot near her collar bone. The water falls all around us. It's like all the stress of our messed up families, and the baby,  
completly washes down the drain with the water. For a moment, when I'm kissing my girl, the girl that I love, everything's okay. Spencer takes my head by the cheeks and peers into my eyes.  
I smile at her, and get down on my knees. My face is directly infront of her stomach. I rest my head against it and she runs her fingers through my hair. I lightly press my lips against her stomach,  
right below her belly button. "Toby," She pushes my face away. "This is a bit too much for the nice Christian farm house."  
I look up at her. "No, that one was for the baby."

Anna wrote most of this chapter but Bailey added in a few lines here and there when I got stuck :)


	13. Chapter 13

**-Aria's POV-**

I'm sitting on the bench in Aunt Betty's flower garden. I look out to the sky. The sun had barely risen before the dark clouds came in and now I hear the distant  
sound of thunder coming too. Sometimes I wish a tornado would come out of the sky, eat me up, and send me right over to Heaven.  
I bend over and pick up a dead flower, wincing at the pain still fresh cut on my stomach.  
I start to mess around with the flower in my fingers, as it starts to rain. "I feel how you look." I tell the poor withered peadles that fall off.  
The rain falls faster and the tear from my eyes do too. "Hey, Montgonery!" I hear a voice call behind me. "Whatcha doing out in the rain?"  
I turn around as Spencer runs toward me.  
"Spencer!" I run up to her and hug her. I know things have changed big time, but seeing her gives me a strange feeling of hope. Like she's still Spencer.  
Maybe everything's ok. "Hey, let's get out of the rain." She says. We start to walk over to the barn.  
"When'd you get here?" I ask. "You weren't supposed to get in until late."  
"I lied about the time. I wanted to surprise you."  
I laugh. "Well then."  
"Toby's inside. He's really hitting it off with Chris. They're talking about trucks. Figures."  
I laugh. "It's nice here." Spencer says. "Peter even said hi to me. Like, with words. I guess he likes me better than you."  
"Most people do." I say. We get to the barn and sit on the floor.  
She lowers her eyes and her face softens. "Aria, you've been crying. What's the matter?"  
I shake my head. "It's nothing, don't worry about -"  
"Aria Montgomery! Don't even start that with me. Whats going on?"  
"Nothing, I -"  
"Aria, I may be pregnant, I may be on the verge of losing my brain, but that does not mean you're gonna start hiding your problems from me! Now spill it."  
I sit there for a second starring at her. I don't know what to say.  
"Listen, Spence, I was just thinking about stuff and I kinda got teary eyed. But it's nothing, really."  
She sighs. "Alright, I'll believe you."  
"Thanks." I say. "So tell me about you guys."  
Spencer tells me about her fight with Melissa, Toby's dad's surprisingly cool reaction, and even the gory details of how this Cavanaugh baby came to be.  
"I hate to say it but it's kinda romantic." I say.  
"I guess…" She replies. "If I was gonna get knocked up, I'm glad it was by him."  
I smile. "Yeah I'm glad it was by him too. I've always liked Toby."  
"Yeah," Spencer said. "You even had a crush on him."  
I laugh. "I did, didn't I? when he first moved in! Him and Mike started hanging out and I  
Always liked to tag along. But then Ali decided to set her sights on him and I got the 'back off' message from those snake eyes of hers and had no choice but to do so."  
She laughs. "Yeah I got that message too. Remember how when Ali went missing, Emily was questioning me for killing her cause I wanted Toby for myself?"  
"I remember…" I say. "It was AWFUL back then but now it's kinda funny."  
"I can understand how she thought that. We were all drunk. I could've done anything. And she was drunk when she made the assumtion, too.  
She wouldn't even speak to me the twelve hours we didn't know what happened to Ali. But when we got the news of how she'd been hit by a car on her way to Toby's.."  
she sighs. "It's still hard to think about."  
"Yeah." I say. "Let's not think about it. I've already had one of those trips down memory lane today."  
"How so?"  
"Chris dated Ali when he still lived in Rosewood."  
"That's freaky. Is that why you were crying earlier? Be reminded of her?"  
"Yeah.." I confess. "I didn't wanna talk about it though."  
She sighs. "We came here to get AWAY from Rosewood. It figures it'd just follow us here."

Anna wrote this one :)


	14. Chapter 14

**-Aria-**

Toby and Spencer go upstairs to get settled in, and everyone else goes back to their normal stuff. Peter, who's finally finished his school work for the year, feeds the ducks by the pond.  
Chris is chatting away with his buddy from school on the phone, and lighting up a cigerette. Aunt Betty's puttering away in the flower garden, and Uncle John's trying to figure out what's wrong  
with the sprinklers.  
"It's the strangest darn thing." He had said. "Everything 'round here's always breaking. Don't know how much more this poor old farm can take."  
I had looked over to Ezra who had shrugged. But then Ezra went for a drive out to the library to get the books we had been talking about reading. and surprisingly, Ezra asked Peter if he  
wanted to come, and he said yes. So I read for a bit and write in my journal a bit and now I'm just finishing up my shower when there's a loud knock at the bathroom door.  
"Aria!" Spencer calls.  
I turn off the shower water. "What?! I'm in the shower, can't it wait?" the door comes flying open.  
"NO!" she yells. "It can't."  
"Spence," I say peeking out of the curtain. "There IS another bathroom downstairs if you have to pee THAT bad."  
"Not funny." she says. She leans up against the sink and waves her phone at me. "You're mom called me. I didn't answer, cause I didn't know the exact lie you've been telling her."  
I close the curtain and moan. And even let out a cuss word, with by this time, doesn't surprise Spencer.  
"Here" Spencer says handing me a towel over the top of the shower. "Dry off and come out."  
So I wrap the towel around myself and come out.  
"What happened?" I ask. "Did she leave a voicemail or what?"  
"She texted me."  
"And?"  
"She said she had been calling you and you didn't answer and she was worried about you. So she called Hanna and she didn't answer, and neither did Emily. And so she -"  
"Don't tell me she called Ems mom."  
Spencer sighs. "Sit down." she says. "You look like you're gonna throw up or something."  
She makes me sit down on the bath tub ledge.  
"She called Pam, Em's mom. She wanted to make sure everything was ok. She said you had been sounding nervous on the phone when you guys talked and stuff like that..."  
"So she knows I'm not in Texas?!"  
She sighs. "Yeah, she knows."  
"Does she know I'm in Kansas?"  
She shakes her head. "That's what she's trying to find out. Apparetnly, Pam's grilling Hanna and Emily for details so she can tell your mom. And you're mom's grilling me for details, too."  
I put my head in my hands. "Oh well. We knew this was gonna happen eventually."  
"What was the plan anyway, Aria? We all know Pam would never lie about something like this. Specailly not to another parent."  
"Well" I say. "My and Pam don't really get along that well. So I didn't think she'd call her just to chat and check up on me. So I thought as long as  
I answered all my moms calls everything would be ok. So we just never told Pam I was suppossed to be coming."  
I sigh. "But I forgot my charger at home. Stupid, I know. So I called Mike from Ezra's phone and asked him to mail it to me. And I gave him the farms adress.  
So eventhough I had to tell Mike the truth, I knew he'd keep quiet. But I missed so many of my moms calls from keeping it off to save battery until it got here.. and then it died.. and.."  
I shake my head. "It's ok. I knew my mom would find out. I was just hoping to think of SOMETHING, ANYTHING that would allow me to stay here. I can't go back there,  
Spencer. I can't leave here. I'm finally regaining some sort of happiness. And Aunt Betty listens to me, and Ezra and I are doing so well with our relationship, we haven't fought once.  
And when I go home, everything's gonna be awul! They're gonna send me to a boarding school and Ezra to jail and - "  
"Aria, get a grip!" she shakes my shoulders. "You're the best liar I know. You can make something up in two seconds flat. You'll be fine."  
I shake her hands of me. "You don't get it, Spence." I sigh. "I don't want to lie any more."  
"Well, then don't. Come on, get dressed and let's go ask Aunt Betty what we should do."  
She hands me my clothes, and I get back into the shower and close the curtain and drop the towel.  
"Does Aunt Betty know you're lying about being here?" Spencer asks.  
"Nope." I say. "She never asked if I had permission to be here. Or anything like that."  
"Think she's gonna ship you back to Rosewood?" she asks as I slide on my underwear.  
I put on my bra and say "I hope not. If she does, well, I'll probably kill myself."  
Without a seconds notice, Spencer swings the shower curtain back, and looks me in the eye. "That is not funny to joke about, Aria."  
I stand there in shock, not able to say anything. She peers into my eyes curiously for a minute then her eyes scan my body up and down. "Aria, what are these?"  
She gestures to my side. "Did you do that to yourself?!"  
"N-no." I stammer. "It was just.." I close my eyes and try despratly to think of something. "They're just..."  
"Aria!"  
"Ok, fine. Yes. I did it."  
she leans against the wall and sighs. "Oh, Aria..."  
I scramble to pull my t-shirt over my head. "Listen," I say. "I don't wanna talk about this. So I'd appretiate it if you forget what you saw."  
"What kind of best friend would I be if I did that?"  
"A good one." I say. "Just.. can we at least not do this tonight? Ok, can you at least allow me to take a rain check?"  
She sighs. "Whatever, Aria. I just wish you would've told me. I know we lie to our family but I wasn't aware we lie to each other."  
"I didn't lie. You just never asked."  
She sighs. "I don't know what to say."  
"Don't say anything. Just let me handle it." I step out of the shower and dry my still wet hair with the towel. "Just go finish unpacking or take a nap or read or something.  
I'm going to talk to Aunt Betty."  
Then her cell phone rings again, and we both look at it. And it's my mom. "We're not done talking about this." she says, then throws her phone onto the bed and says  
"Go talk to Aunt Betty. And make it quick."

**-Ezra-**

"Aunt Betty!" Aria comes charging down the stairs. "I need to talk to you."  
Aunt Betty looks at Aria, shocked, then to me, and then to Chris who's sitting next to me, and finally to Peter who's looking intentally at me. I pretend not to notice him eyeing me.  
"Um..." She looks back to Aria. "Ok, let me just finish the dishes and we can.. -"  
"No." Aria says. "It's an emergancy."  
"I'll finish the dishes." Chris says standing up.  
I stand up too. "I'll help."  
Aunt Betty takes Aria out to the flower garden to talk and Peter soon goes outside also.  
"So," Chris says. "Sup with your girlfriend?"  
"First of all," I say. "Her name's Aria. And second, I don't think it's any of your business."  
"Fine, sorry." He says and puts away a champaign glass. "I was just worried about her."  
"Oh, right, so you wanna know what's up with her so you can pray for her?" I say, hearing the intense sarcasum in my own voice.  
"Stranger things have happened."  
"I doubt it."  
"Yeah, well, whatever.  
We put away dishes in silence for a while before Chris says "You know, Ezra, we used to be pretty tight."  
I don't reply. "Although you did used to give me that cold shoulder while we were still close."  
"Yeah, well, you were pretty annoying back then too."  
"And you were -"  
"Boys?" Uncle John comes down the stairs. "Everything alright?"  
We turn around. "Yup." Says Chris. "Just helping Ma with the dishes."  
"Well ain't that a nice thing?"  
He puts one hand on the door knob. "I'm going to get Grandpa and bring him home. Wanna come? I could use a hand. He's hasn't been to happy 'bout being there. He's gonna give me an  
ear full about it."  
"Sure." Chris puts the last bowl in the counter. "You coming, Cuz?"  
I look out the window to where Aria and Aunt Betty are having a serious conversation. On one hand I don't think she'll miss me much, but she might need me.  
"No, thanks." I say. "I'll stay here. Catch up with Toby."  
"Suite yourself." Uncle John says. "We'll be back at noon."

**-Aria-**

I talk to Aunt Betty for about half an hour. She suggested that I tell my mom the complete and honest truth and then admit that I messed up and ask her to forgive me. And then to take whatever conequences she dishes out. My first instinct was to laugh and then think of some really good lie to cover everything up. But then I realized that Aunt Betty was right. Completly right.  
Then she asked to pray with me. Uh, yeah. I said sure but I tuned her out and went over how I would tell my mom in my head. I guess I'd just spit it out and beg for mercy.  
When I finally take my cell phone and sit at the table with Spencer and Aunt Betty, it's already noon. I stare at my phone for what felt like years, but it was only about five second.  
"Come on, Aria. You can do it."  
I sigh. "Ok," I say looking up to see their eyes intentally on me. "But can you guys not stare at me like that please?"  
They both snicker a little and get up. Aunt Betty grabs a magazine and starts to flip through it, and Spencer takes about her phone and starts playing solitare.  
I sigh and go to call my mom, but my phone rings. I nearly jump out of my skin. Of course, it's my mom.  
"Go ahead, dear." Aunt Betty says.  
I take a deep breath and answer it. "Mom, hey..."  
"You are SO dead. I can't even believe you, Aria!" I move the phone away from my ear. Her loud pericing voice hurts more than just my ear.  
"Mom, I -"  
"You're there with Fitz, aren't you?!"  
I take a deep breath yet again. "Yes, I'm -"  
"Where are you?!" She asks.  
"I'm in Kansas... Ezra's family owns a farm and we're -"  
"Oh, Aria!"  
"I'm sorry. I -"  
"SORRY?! You lied to me about where you were and who you were with and all you have to say is SORRY?!"  
"I can't say anything, cause you won't let me talk!" I practically yell. Aunt Betty and Spencer both look up at me. I'm sure they can hear everything my mom's saying too, they just pretend they can't.  
"You lost the right to talk when you stopped telling the truth."  
"Ok mom, but may I remind you that YOU called ME to TALK? If all you wanted to do was tell me how awful I was you could've left it in a voicemail."  
She's silent for a long time. "Fine. Go ahead."  
I take a deep breath and look at Aunt Betty. "What I did was wrong, and -"  
"Yeah, you got that right. How could you be so irresponsible?!"  
I wait a few seconds. "Are you done?" I say.  
She's silent.  
"What I did was wrong. And I'm very sorry. It was irresponsible, immature, disrespectful and foolish. And I'm sorry I lied about where I was going and who I was with. There's no excuse for  
what I did but... if you'd let me I'd like to explain to you why I did it..."  
"You can TRY."  
"Okay... Well," I pause. "Did you ever do anything really stupid with dad before you were married? As teenagers?"  
"This isn't about me. It's about you and your mistakes. Not mine."  
"I know. I'm trying to make you understand. When you were young, and you did something totally stupid, and you knew it was wrong, but somehow it just felt really right, and you figured that doing it, and having consequences was better than not doing it.. and having to continue on as you were?"  
She's silent.  
"I knew coming here to Kansas with Ezra, and telling you I was in Texas with Emily would get me in a lot of trouble. But honestly.. To me, staying in Rosewood... and not being with Ezra sounded like more toture than any punishment you could give me."  
"And if your punishment is staying with Rosewood and not seeing Ezra?"  
"If I hadn't come here that would've been how it was anyway. And I'll be eighteen in a matter of months. Then I'll be with him again."  
"Not if he's in jail."  
Now I'm the one who doesn't say anything.  
"I don't know HOW I'm gonna get you home, or if I even want you home. But I don't want you with that man anmore."  
I still don't say anything. The front door opens, and Grandpa walks in followed by Ezra and Uncle John. They walk in quietly, seeing I'm on the phone.  
"Mom, can I call you back? Or can you hang on a second?"  
"I'll wait."  
I mute the phone and stand up. "Hello." I say reaching out my hand to Ezra's grandpa. "I'm Aria. Aria Montgomery."  
He shakes my hand. "Ezra, is this your girl from Rosewood?"  
"Yes." He smiles. "She is."  
He looks back to me. "Is your mama's name Ella?"  
"Uh..." I say. "Yeah...?"  
"Can I talk to her?"  
"Uh.." I look around. "Sure..."  
I pick up the phone and put it on speaker. "Mom? Someone wants to talk to -"  
"Ella! How've you been? Long time no talk!"  
"Pastor Joe?" She says.  
I look to Ezra. "Pastor Joe?!"  
"Mhm." Ezra says. "He was a Pasor in Rosewood for 35 years."  
"And he knows my mom.. how?"  
Ezra shrugs.  
"What're you doing there, Pastor?" My mom asks.  
"Oh, I live here! Ezra, he's my grandson."  
"Oh! I had no idea..."  
"Ella, why are you giving this girl of yours such a hard time?"  
"Oh, it's a long story..."  
"I know the story. Ezra filled me in. Oh, Ella, I understand it's frusterating. But maybe you outta evaluate the reason she felt the need to run away, instead of just yelling at her. You know it's only going to push her away more. You don't want that."  
There's a long pause. "Can I talk to her please?" She finally asks.  
"Sure. Nice talking with you, Ella."  
"You too, Pastor Joe."  
He hands me the phone back. I'm in total shock over what just happened, but I take the phone and go lock myself in my bedroom to talk to her. Who knew Rosewood was so small that the Pastor my mom had as a kid and teenager is my boyfriends grandpa, who I'm staying with in Kansas. Oy.  
"Hey." I say. "It's just me."  
"Listen, Aria... I understand you love him... But.. You lied to me..."  
"What about dad and Meradith, mom?"  
She's silent.  
"Dad lied to you. He cheated on you. And you just forgave him. But I get all the heat for it?"  
"Well fine Aria, do you want me to treat your dad like this now? My only options were to forgive him or lose my husband!"  
"Well your only options with me are to forgive me or lose me. Dad said vows to you on your wedding day to love you and only you, and he broke those. I never promised not to fall in love, mom!"  
"Well Aria, I know you don't remember, but I made a promise to you to protect you, the day you were born, so I can't just let you -"  
"Can't let me what? Be happy?"  
She's quiet.  
"Mom, remember when I was little, and you and dad both got the flu? I think Mike had it too. And I wanted to stay with you guys, but you said you had to send me to grandma's until you all got better, so I didn't get sick, too? But it was too late, and I got the flu too. And I said now that I was already sick, I could stay with you and dad. And you said that you guys were too sick to  
be able to properly take care of us, so you sent Mike and I to grandma's until you guys got better?"  
"Yeah..."  
"Well, it's like like that now. You and dad are in too much trouble. You're always mad, always fighting, always in some kind of conflict. I wasn't happy at home surrounded by that. If you let me stay with Ezra, here in Kansas, you'll be protecting me. I can't be at home anymore, mom. I need a break. You may not like Ezra, but I do. I'm finally happy here. Aunt Betty and Uncle John, they NEVER fight. Ever! And there's peace and quiet here. And Spencer's here, mom. I'm with Spencer. And Pastor Joe. You trust him, don't you? Please mom, let me stay. Just for a little bit."  
She's silent.  
"You lied to me." She finally says.  
I sigh. "Mom, did you know Mike wants to go into photography?"  
"What does that have to do with any -"  
"Did you know that dad recently picked up playing chess again? And did you know Mike's old best friend, Ricky, is moving to Virginia? Did you know dad's sister, Aunt Riley, has cancer?  
Or that Spencer, my BEST friend is pregnant? That Hanna started playing flute this year? Did you know ANY of that mom?"  
She sighs. "No, Aria."  
"See mom? See my point? Did you know I found a recite in the trash can a few weeks ago, from a purchase you made in some clothes shop in New Jersrey, when you said you were in Philly for a meeting? So, you've lied to us, too. Maybe you should quite yelling at me for lying to you, and start wondering how you've made it so easy for me to lie to you. Because you don't care anymore. You're hardly a part of my life. Of Mike's life. Or your own husbands life."  
"Aria... I'm sorry..."  
"So let me stay here, mom. Because the longer I'm in that town, the sicker I get. I'm finally healing here. If you bring me back, It'll only get worse. For all of us."  
"Alright. You may stay."  
"Thank you."  
I talk to my mom for a few more minutes and then we get off the phone. I smile to myself. My life has just become a little bit less of a lie.

By: Anna


	15. Chapter 15

-Ezra-

Everyone in the house, minus Aria, sit in the living room now. Peter comes out of his shell and talks a little bit, knowing his grandpa's home now. It's nice to see the side of him that's been hiden lately. Aria  
finally returns from her phone call. "Hey." She says coming in.  
"Aria!" Grandpa looks over to her. "Did your mama finally losen up?"  
She smiles. "Yeah. She did." She sits down next to Toby. "Small word..."  
"It is indeed." Chris mutters from the corner. Aunt Betty shoots him a look and he goes back to the laptop he's been on all morning.  
"Well," Uncle John stands up. "We are not gonna get anything done around here just sittin'."  
"Agreed." Grandpa says. He starts rambling off a list of things around the farm that are broken. "We have work to be done."  
"But Grandpa," Aunt Betty says. "You've only just barely gotten out of the hospital. Take a rest."  
"I had a full weeks rest, thank you. I'm ready to work again."  
"Can't agrue with that." Uncle John rubs his hands together. "Then let's get to it. Chris, why don't you give us a hand? Ezra, Peter, you too."  
"I'll help." Toby offers, and gets up also. He's probably still trying to earn Uncle John's respect. But, I think he has it. Unfortuantly, it's probably Aria who has lost respect from a few people today.

* * *

*Warning, triggering. Read with causion*

-Aria-

"And then there were three..." I whisper, after everyone else leaves the room. Spencer glares at me from the corner of her eye, and Aunt Betty simply avoids eye contact. "It was a joke..."  
I mutter. "Sorry." Still, no one answers me. Spencer sighs and stands up. "I'm gonna take a nap." she announces, to Aunt Betty. Not to me. "If you need any help, I'd be more than happy to  
come down, though." She smiles and her, glares at me, and leaves the room. I sigh and burry my head in my hands. Finally, Aunt Betty speaks.  
"I'm sorry, Aria, honey..." I hear her get up. I look up from my hands.  
"what?"  
she comes over and sits next to me. "I shouldn't be hard on you.. I'm sorry. I just felt a little betrayed, that's all. I was under the impression that you being here was completly okay with your parents... I wish you had told me..."  
"I'm sorry..." I say. "I just didn't wanna go home..."  
She nods. "Well, the past is the past. But if there's anything you're not telling me, please do..."  
I laugh a little. "Do you want my entire history? Cause if you want, I can call my mom back, I think she has my birth on tape..."  
She laughs. "I love your sense of humor." Her eyes smiles. "I'm happy with Ezra's decision to be with you. He made a good choice."  
I look down. "Or not..." I sigh.  
"There may be a lot of conflict in your relationship, but every relationship was conflicts."  
"But mine are ruining my parents lives..."  
"I can't speak for them, but from what I understand, you're not responsible for the state they're in. You're just trying to survive a rough patch."  
"But I lied to them..."  
"Yeah, that wasn't very smart. But like I said, the past is the past." she says. "But if you have anything else major you're keeping from them, you should let them know."  
I nod. "Yeah... I guess..."  
She smiles and pats my knee as she stands up. "I'm going out to dinner tonight with John and our friends. But there are plenty of leftovers in the fridge, and you can order take out from some places. Not many will deliver out here, but the list is on the side of the fridge. Hope you don't mind."  
"Not at all." I say.  
She goes upstairs to her room, and I follow but go to my room. I tidy up a bit and then lay down in the covers on the not yet made bed. I just kinda stare up at the ceiling and keep my mind from thinking too much about all that's going on. After a while I hear the door open, but I don't look up cause I know it's probably Ezra. I don't hear anything. He doesn't say anything or come over to me.  
So I sit up to look at him. But when I do, I see it's not Ezra. It's Spencer. I don't say anything, just lay back down and resume my position of staring upwards. I hear her footsteps come closer and over to the bed. She stands next to me, then pokes my arm. "Scoot over."  
I don't move. "No."  
"Aria, move, or I'll flip you over onto the floor."  
I scoot over, and she lays down next to me. I scoot over further, away from the middle and onto Ezra's side.  
"So..." She starts, slowly and timidly. "About the... things..."  
"What 'things'?" I ask, reluctantly.  
"The cuts, Aria. Don't play stupid. Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I don't know, Spencer..." I sigh.  
"Do you not trust me, of all people?"  
"It's not that I don't trust you... I was just... I don't know, I guess I was embarresed. Or ashamed..." I say, turning onto my side away from her, ready for this conversation to be over.  
"Well sometimes you have to forget whatever you're feeling and get help. Do you know how dangerous this is? What if you hit an artery, and no one's home to help? Or a cut gets seriously infected,  
and you have no one to tell? Or you have so many you bleed out? Did you ever stop to think about that?" Her voice raises slightly.  
"Ezra knows. And for the next month or two I'm sharing a room with him, you and Toby are right next door, and there are three grown adults down the hall, and Chris who was a boyscout and can stop a cow from bleeding out if he had to. So, yes, I do stop and think about that. But it doesn't stop me."  
"Just stop for a second and think about everyone else. What does Ezra think? It upsets him, doesn't it? And what if Mike knew? The same girl that  
covered up when he wet the bed when he was little, the same girl that sat in the crowd of his lacrosse game even when it was 25 degrees, the same girl that practically raised him, is hurting herself. What does that show him? That he could do the same? Or what about Hanna? Or Emily? They'd be crushed if they knew. Or what about her?" Out of the courner of my eye, I see her point to her stomach. "What of when she's five, she accidentally see's Auntie Aria's scars? What would you tell her? Or your own kids?  
"You know what Spencer?" I sit up. "You're mad I never told you. Ever stop to think maybe I didn't tell you because I was afraid of this? Afraid it would hurt you. That's why I dont tell anyone. So that no one gets hurt. Cause I knew if I told you, this is what would happen. Now you're judging me, and making me feel awful and more quilty than I already do."  
"Aria..." She sighs. I lay back down on my back. "I'm sorry. I'm just scared..." She looks over to me. "I don't want to lose you."  
"Well you're gonna lose me if you're gonna act like that."  
"I just don't understand... There are so many other ways to get help for how you're feeling. Why this one?"  
I feel tears welling up in my eyes. I don't speak, cause if I do I know my voice will crack. I just stare up and the ceiling like I was before.  
It's been a particualrly rough year. It's been really hard on me. And Mike, too. But not as hard on him as it is on me. So a few months ago, our dad let us get a pet. This was huge for us, since we loved animals, and dad never let us have anything other than goldfish. So, we got a new baby kitten. She was really sweet, but she was really skitish and got scared easily. Once, she was laying on my lap with her paw and head laying on my arm. There was a knock at my bedroom door, and the kitten's head went flying up, and she dug her nails into me, and then yawnked her paw back to her. Her  
sharp little nails obviously cut me. And it's no big deal to get a cat scratch, right? But because of the way her paw dug into me and went straight across my forarm, they left four horizonal cuts right across me. I opening the door, holding my wrist in my hand as blood slowly trickled from it. "Oh, my, gosh..." Mike said, immeditaly. "Aria, did you just -"  
"No!" I had answered quickly. I pointed to the kitten who was bushy tailed and hunched back. "She did it." I showed him how it happened, reinacting it out on his arm, but with my own fingers. He believed me, luckily, and got my mom. I told her the same story, and they never questioned if I had cut myself on purpose. But later that night, Mike said, "Hey, Aria? I know you didn't do that, but you don't cut yourself, right?" I told him no, since it was the truth. At the time. And he said "Good. Please, don't ever. Okay? Just, don't."  
"I won't Mike," I assured hm..  
After that night, Mike hated the cat. Never petted her, picked her up, or even talked to her again. My dad ended up getting him a dog instead. And the kitten's still mine. But Mike still has a grudge against the poor thing. But, after that happened, I realized something. Those cuts on my arm, they made the world stop for a few seconds. The pain, adrenaline, seeing blood come from your own skin, it just made you forget about everything. That's what happened when the kitten scracthed me. And everytime I saw those cuts, it gave me a small kick of that adrenaline again. Everything seemed better when I could look down and see those. And I had never even considered doing it to myself. That is, until Mike mentioned it. For a few weeks I tried and tried so hard not to do it to myself. Because I promised Mike. But finally, I just gave up once day. And I've pretty much been doing it ever since. Mike still doesn't know. I figured what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Then I realized, it was quite the oppisite. If Mike hates a poor, innocent, frightened cat for a few minor cuts that were an accident, imagine how much he would hate me for the huge slits all over myself, that I do on purpose.  
Ten or so minutes later, Spencer's still laying next to me. I look over at her. Her eyes, like mine, are just starring at nothing imparticular. I had almost thought maybe she fell asleep. She probably thought  
the same about me.  
"Spencer?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.  
"Yeah?" She asks, shocked to hear me speak.  
I turn to face her and blink back tears, but they fall anyways. "Will you help me?"  
She smiles a comforting, sympathedic, yet victious smile. She pats the large gap of space between us. I scoot over towards her, and she links our arms and fingers. I rest my head on the edge of her  
shoulder. "Yeah." She says. "I will."  
We don't say anything else, we just lay there together and lock our eyes towards the ceiling that seperats us from the sky.


	16. Chapter 16

-Spencer's POV-

Flashback to when Spencer/Toby met, Toby and Ali were a thing, Ali died, and then to when Toby/Spencer had sex for the first time and she got pregnant.

Flashback to the summer of 2008. A time when Alison Dilaurentis ruled the streets of Rosewood, and controlled anybody who roamed them. Alison had everyone wrapped around her finger. They all did what Ali wanted, when she wanted, how she wanted. She was on top of her game, until a moving truck rolled down Pennsylvania Drive. No one hardly ever moved to Rosewood. There was nothing here. So when the Cavanaugh's moved into the house next door, Ali was ecstatic. Every once in a while, she ran out of people to manipulate. Every child needs new toys to play with, right? Even better, they had a son our age. Yet another boy Ali could charm, build him up, then break his heart. At the time, I felt sorry for him. Poor kid didn't know what he was getting into. But if he wanted to be a piece in Alison's twisted game, let him. He'd have to be sooner or later. For the next few days, Ali flirted with Toby. Sitting so close to him at lunch she was practically on his lap, flashing one of her million dollar smiles every few minutes, and so on. They were almost together, when that one fatal night put a hold on everything. It was our annual summer sleepover. No vacation was officially started until sleeping bags were rolled out on the floor of my tiny room. We always had it at the apartment my sister and I shared; Melissa was hardly ever home. Our parents life insurance could only hold us over for so long. To Ali and the rest of them, Aria, Hanna, and Emily, that meant time to bust out the vodka Aria took from her parent's liquor cabinet, and plan the rest of the summer. To me, it was just another way for Ali to gain control over us. Ali had no real friends, just more important pieces in her games. A few hours after the girls had shown up, everyone was drunk and passed out, gone to this world. Everyone except for, you guessed it, Ali and I. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved Alison. She was like my sister. But some nights, I could just wrap my hands around her neck and not let go. No, not literally. I could never hurt her. Or at least I thought so. Did you know sixty-percent of what intoxicated people say is true? If I would've know that then, I wouldn't have drank three glasses of Absolut. Maybe if I hadn't, we wouldn't have fought, I wouldn't have followed her in the hall and to the stairwell, and wouldn't have seen her walk out of my apartment building. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't be dead.

"You loved her, didn't you?" I ask. Spring forward to March, 2012. I was sitting with my boyfriend, Toby, on the hood of his truck, parked by a lake. And yes, this is Ali's Toby. A week after Ali disappeared, he gained the courage to talk to me. One night, he had confessed he always liked me better. I was shocked. Everyone like Alison more, she was prettier, wealthier, and had more charm. She was basically the breathing version of Barbie.  
"No, I was just...under the witch's spell." Toby threw a pebble into the musky lake. "Honestly? I don't know why I was wasting my time on a rock when a diamond was just lurking around the corner." Toby wrapped his arm around my shoulder and drew me closer. We sat in silence for a few moments. It was nice, listening to the crickets and the squirrels. But not nearly as nice as what came next. Toby leaned down and took my chin in his hands. "I love YOU, Spencer. Nobody else." With just a Toby was intoxicating, way stronger than anything any pharmacy had. Love was the drug and he was the dealer. It was freezing that night, even for March. Most people wouldn't be caught without a coat or two, let alone bare chested. But something about this just pushed the thought of ever being cold to the very back of my mind. I slide Toby's shirt off from around his neck, and he smiles at me. "Hold on." He whispers. He jumps off the hood, goes into the back seat of the car, and comes out with a bag. I don't ask what's in it. I'm too distracted by his extremely sexy back (okay, and maybe even backside.) as he goes past the trees. I wait for him to return, feeling the cold wind on my face. I'm glad it's cold out. It's cooling of my warm cheeks. Toby emerges from the trees, and without a word, picks me up in his arms, my legs wrapped tightly around his waist, and he takes me to the waters edge. It's freezing down here, but it looks like Toby's thought of everything. A sheet on the cold ground, a blanket, and a pillow. He whispers in my ear "Top, or bottom?" my heart starts to pound fast. I don't know what to say, I don't think I can speak due to the heart beat in my throat.  
"Which ever.." I finally muster up. I feel embarrassed to not seem as relaxed as Toby is. But, I know he probably understands I'm sort of new at this. 'Then again, maybe he is too,' I think to myself as he carefully places me down on the sheet, my head on the pillow. But I don't think he is, by the way he knows exactly what he's doing, working on my jeans and kissing my neck. Still, the thought of possibly getting Toby's virginity is sending a chill down my spin. Or maybe it's the act that HE'S about to get MINE. I run my hand down his necks, down his chest, his abs, stopping at his belt, which I begin to undo also. You could feel the love in the air, in our kisses, in our bodies. And on that very March night, we make love on the outskirts of the bitter town Rosewood, not a single care in the world.


	17. Chapter 17

Toby.

We all go inside the house now, because John has to get ready for the dinner he's going to with Betty. Ezra and I head upstairs together to our rooms. I open the door to mine, and find that it's empty.  
"Hey, Ezra?" I ask. "Any idea where Spencer is?" He opens the door to his own room.  
"The last time I saw her was the last time you saw her. Sorry." He shrugs and goes into his room, but returns seconds later. "Found her." He points inside's the door. "Your girlfriend's sleeping with my girlfriend." I go over and peek into the bedroom and see Spencer and Aria both lightly sleeping, a few inches away from each other. I laugh a little.  
"Infact," Ezra says. "Your girlfriend's sleeping on my side of the bed."  
"We don't have to do that now, do we?" I joke.  
"Defanatly not. I really hate to wake either of them though."  
"Yeah, we should leave them."  
"Easy for you to say, it's not your bed they're sleeping in." He jokes. He quietly closes the door and both head back downstairs. Ezra grabs two sodas out of the fridge, hands me one and opens the other for himself. We sit down on the couch and Ezra puts his feet up on the coffee table. Suddenly, I feel kinda jealous of Ezra. If I could do that in my relatives house, well, I wouldn't need to be herein Kansas. I'd be there with them. "So, Toby."  
"Yeah?"  
"Congratdualtion."  
"On what...?" I ask.  
Ezra pauses and looks at me. "The baby..."  
"Oh," I say. "Right. Sorry it's just... No one has told me congraduations..."  
"Well I wasn't gonna say 'sorry to hear the news.'"  
"I guess not."  
"I feel weird asking this, but what're you gonna do for a doctor up here?"  
"Spencer's family doctor referred her to someone up here. She lives like an hour away from the farm, but it's the closest one there is. Her first appoinment's in a few days."  
"Are you excited?"  
I shrug. "I guess... Not too excited. I doubt I'll be going."  
"What? Why not?"  
"Spencer will probably ask Aria, and then ask if I mind staying home."  
"Seriously?"  
"Probably..." I shrug. "I love Aria, don't get me wrong. We've been friends since middle school and stuff. But when it comes down to it, Spencer will usually pick Aria over me for everything except sexual matters."  
"Well I sure hope she picks you for sexual matters."  
I laugh loudly and nod.  
"They're best friends." Ezra says. "They're teenager girls. They've been friends since, what, first grade?"  
"Yup."  
"Don't take it personal. Aria picks Spencer over me all the time. Sometimes I get offened. But then I remember that in order for our relationship to work out, she needs girl friends too. Or else, I'M caught playing the role of the best girl friend."  
I laugh again. "True. But I really do need to be a part of the baby's life. It's my baby, too."  
"Understandable. Tell her that."  
"I will..." I say. "If things don't straighten out soon."  
Chris comes into the house now. "Hey, my folks gone?"  
"Leaving soon." I tell him.  
"Hm, okay. Mind if I hang here?"  
"Not at all." I say.  
But Ezra seems uncomfortable. Chris opens the fridge, looks around up the stairs, and sees his parents coming down, so he closes it.  
"Bye, Y'all." They wave at us, and in a hurry, they leave. Chris comes and sits down.  
"So, how you liking it over here?" He asks me.  
"I don't know. Ask me in a few days." I answer.  
"If you like it enough, you can take my spot here. And I'll get to go back to Rosewood."  
"You WANT to go back?" Ezra and I ask at the exact same time.  
He looks confused. "Why wouldn't you?"  
"I could list a number of reasons." I say.  
"Yeah, well, think about it. We all complained a lot about Rosewood. It was small and filled with drama. There was only one public highschool to chose from, and the teachers in that highschool had affairs with students. No offence, Ezra."  
"Offence taken..."  
"And the restaruants were awful or insanly exensive, or both. But mostly, what made Rosewood, Rosewood, was the people in it. Everyone gossiped and lied. And there was always conflict or drama going on. And if you didn't move out before twenty five, you're stuck there for life."  
"Yeah," I say. "So what exactly makes you wanna go back?"  
He smiles in a way that freakishly reminds me of my brother. "You all may hate it there, and I may have hated it there. But there's a reason no one leaves, even when they complain about it."  
"And what's that?" Ezra asks with crossed arms.  
"It's all we've ever known."

Ezra turns on the tv in the living room, which he and I both become instantly intrested in, and Chris heads outside. But when the show ends, and we've both had nothing but popcorn for our dinner, I decide to go get fresh air and finally be alone for a few minutes. Since I left Rosewood, I've constantly been working. I'm seriously surprised I'm still wide awake with how little sleep I've had. I walk around the lot and try and get more familiar to the farm. But then I hear the faint sound of a My Chemical Romance song, and follow it till I'm at the door of the lite barn. I knock, then enter.  
"Hello?" I call.  
"Oh, Toby, hey. You're from Rosewood," he says with his words kinda slurred and hard to understand. "You can keep a secret, right?"  
"Uh, yeah?"  
He holds up what looks to me like a lot of vodka, and a few soda cans. "Wanna join?"  
"Uh..." I look around, uncomfortable. "No, thank. I don't drink... Or break the law."  
He laughs. "Wow. You haven't been corupted yet. That's cool. I respect that."  
He picks up a beer bottle from behind the stack of hay and takes a long swig. "It's a shame. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, all your stress would be gone."  
"Who said I was stressed?"  
"Dude. Your girlfriend's pregnant and you're in a barn in Kansas to get away from your angry father. You're stressed."  
I sit down on the stack of hay next to him.  
"So how about it?" He asks, handing me a full bottle of unopened beer. "You can start off light, you can have the beer instead of the vodka. Neither taiste that good at first, though."  
I stare at him, and down at the red plastic cups he's mixing everything in. "No, thanks. No beer."  
"Suite yourself."  
"No beer. Just skip to the vodka."  
He smiles at me. "Now we're talking."  
He takes a cup and pours a lot of soda in it, then opens the half empty vodka bottle. "So, do you know ANYTHING about alchohal?"  
I shake my head dumbly. "I tried not to know anything about it. Then it'd be too tempting."  
"So, in other words, instead of asking you how much you want, I should ask you how numb you wanna feel?"  
"Yeahh..."  
"Well then, Toby my friend, how much pain would you like to feel after this?"  
I look around the barn. Cows and horses all stare back at me. Well, not all of them. But I feel like I have a million eyes on me, knowing what I'm about to do.  
"None." I say. "I don't care how drunk I am. How much I puke, or how awful my hang over will be. I do not want to feel any emotional pain what-so-ever."  
"You do know I'm not responsible for how sick you get right? I mean, this is your first time after all."  
"Will it kill me?"  
"It's highly unlikely."  
"But is it possible?"  
"I guess."  
"Then by all means, fill 'er up."  
Chris laughs and starts to pour. "Toby, don't try and talk country. At least not until you're drunk."  
I take a timid sip of the drink, and instantly want to spit it out. Chris laughs. "Congrats. You just lost your drinking-virginity."  
"Ew."  
"Yup. You get used to it. But hopefully you won't. Toby, just try and make this a once in a while thing. Not a usual thing. Cause it's not just perks. It's a lot of cons, too."  
"Obviously. Like the taste."  
"And the money and the hang overs and the parents and the law."  
"So, why do you do it exactly?"  
"You'll know for yourself soon enough."  
I shrug and try another sip.  
"So you just sit here and drink?"  
"Pretty much."  
"Alone?"  
"I'm not alone." He points to the ipod plugged up to speakers. "I have Gerard and Frank and..." He pauses and frowns. "I can't remember the rest of them." He shrugs. "Ask me their names tomorrow around one. Or whenever we wake up."  
It's thirty or so minutes, and a lot of drinks later. Turns out Chris has a whole stash of them that he pulls out, and teaches me what to mix with what and when, but I don't think I'll remember anything. We play a round of basket ball out in the drive way, where there's a hoop. But eventually we're both too fuzzy and when Chris says we should get ahead on tomorrow's chores and milk the chickens, I tell him we should go back to the barn and crash there. He has a stash of pillows and blankets in there.  
"When I'm out here, I like to stay out here... 'cause if I go inshide, I get busted. It'sh like mom and pa have radars on there heads or shomthing..." he mumbles. I laugh and fall on the ground. "Spencer would love this. She's always so tense... Maybe I should bring her some of this..." I hold up my empty cup.  
"She's pregnant, dude." He reminds me turning the music up a 've moved on from My Chemical Romance to Hollywood Undead.  
_Pour me, pour me, pour me another drink. _The music sings.  
"She's... wha? Ooh that's right... I totally forgot."  
Chris smiles and takes my cup. "Then it's done it's job. Don't over do it."  
"If I stop, you stop."  
He laughs and hands my cup back. "Then knock yourself out." He laughs. "Pun intended."  
_Just one more drink then I swear I'm going home, truth is I don't really have a place to go, So pour me another...  
_I sip the beer, which has finally grown on me.  
"I always used to wonder what I'd be like drunk." I say. "Spencer says I'd probably either get really angry and let all my feelings out, I'd fall apart and start crying. Then again she's a girl. They think too much. I think too much."  
"We all do. That's why I drink."  
"You're smart."  
"Or stupid."  
"I lied." I say. "I've drank before."  
"You don't shay?"  
"Yup. When I was forteen by dad started drinking. My brother started too. So I was surrounded by drunks. Well, my dad got drunk sometimes. My brother only did once. He had to do it to get the erve up to yell at my dad for being a dud. But aside from that he only had a few beers here and there. And sometimes I had some with him. But like I said, I never gotten drunk."  
"Dude, you're still thinking too much."  
"I'm thinking but I'm not feeling anything. Not at all." I pause. "Chris? How'd you start drinking?"  
He closes his eyes. "So does this mean we're sharing stories now?"  
"Huh?"  
"Our pathedic pasts."  
"If you can talk clearly enough for it go right ahead..."  
"My first love is the one who got me struck on it." He laughs. "Dang it, we were so young. She snuck some of her parents stuff a lot. We drank sometimes." He laughs. "We always got angry when we got drunk. Or had sex. So usually we'd wait till we were already naked to drink."  
"Too much info."  
He shrugs. "Anyways, when she died..." He paused for a long time. "Dang it Toby, you're making me feel again."  
He whipes his damp eyes with his slobby shirt sleeve. "When she died I had to drink. I had no choice. If I hadn't had a way to excape the pain I would've killed myself within days." He shook his head.  
_I'll meet you here in heaven, between the sea, 'cause I'm not just a man with these broken dreams.  
_"I know how you feel." I told him. "Exactly how you feel. My girlfriend died, too. I didn't love her as much as it sounds like you loved your girlfriend. But that Alison..." I shake my head, too, just like he had. "She was something else."  
Chris sits up so fast, I can practically hear the alchohal inside of him swish. "Alison what?"  
"huh?"  
"ALISON, WHAT?"  
"Dilor..." I pause. "Dilorentes." I stumble through the word trying to make my brain work again.  
"You BASTARD!" Chris stands up.  
"What?!" I sit up now.  
"Get OUT!" Chris points to the door of the barn. "Get out NOW!"  
Ezra comes in now with wide eyes. "The heck is going on in here...? Are you guys dri-"  
"You're the one?!" Chris's face turns red. "You?!"  
"I'm so confused..." I stammer.  
"You're the one she cheated one me with, you little -" He doesn't finish his statment, but lunches at me. He throws punches and almost knocks me off of my feet before I snap to and defend myself.  
Ezra get's in the middle of us. "You two, stop it, NOW!"  
But Chris even knocks Ezra a few punches trying to get to me.  
"Peter," I hear Ezra call. I turn my head slightly to see Peter standing in the couner, and I wonder how long he's been there watching this. Chris doesn't see him - or doesn't care - and continues on,  
cursining and yelling at me, trying to throw punches at me which I promplty through back, nailing Ezra a few times. "Go get help, quickly!"  
"Who?" Peter asks. Ezra hesitates. "Spencer and Aria." He says. Peter nods and takes off at a sprint. The next few minutes are a complete blur. Actually, to be more accurate, the next fifteen or so  
hours were a blur.

By: Anna

I just wanted to clarify I don't aprove of cursing, and I don't cuss myself. I added it in to add to Chris's character. But I just wanted to make sure everyone know's I am a Christian and don't use that language, (well I try my hardest not to) but I don't judge people who does :)


	18. Chapter 18

"Shouldn't this be the other way around?" Spencer says, with much more attitude in her voice than I knew she even could. "Shouldn't I be the one puking my brains out, and shouldn't you be the one comforting me?"  
Toby clutches the toliet and moans.  
"You're getting what you deserve, you know." She tells him.  
"You aren't very sympathedic are you?"  
"I had to wake up from my sleep, the sleep that's providing energy for your baby to grow, to break up a fist fight with you and Chris, over your dead ex girlfriend's. And normally, I'd be understanding of the sore subject being brought up, and understand that he started it. But you had the stupidity to be drinking."  
"You know, when you're puking your brains out in the middle of the night, I won't have sympathy with you."  
"Yes you will. You're puking cause you got drunk. I'm puking cause you knocked me up."  
"Always my fault, isn't it?"  
"Glad to know you think so. Cause I do."  
He moans again. "Spencer, why don't you just go." He tells her.  
I stand in the door way and listen in.  
"Fine, whatever." Spencer gets up. "Come on, Aria."  
I look to Spencer and back to Toby. "Okay..." I follow her out.  
"Aria?" Toby calls after me. Again, I look from Spencer to Toby. Spencer raging mad and turning red, and Toby all curled up and turning green.  
"Can't I stay with him?" I ask. "You may be mad at him and trust me, I'm not exactly his biggest fan, and if it were Ezra I'd be furious, but I'd still want him to have someone, and -"  
"Don't explain yourself." She waves her hand at me. "It's fine. Go be with Mr. trying-to-be-cool-drunky. I'm gonna go back to bed."  
"Thanks." I say, and go back into the bathroom. I sit down next to him.  
"This is awful." Toby moans.  
"That's why you should never trust someone from Rosewood to mix your drinks unless they're paid to do it." I laugh. "You know I met Ezra cause I was drunk. Well that's not how I met him. It's how I ended up making out with him." I laugh to myself again. "But really, after this is over, you'll be kinda glad."  
"Please induldge me on how feeling like my stomach's having a sezier is going to make me glad."  
"Cause, when Chris had his first drink, he took it easy. Worked his way up the drinking volume. His hang overs never got this bad. And now he's addicted. You'll never even sip a drink again."  
Toby shakes his head. "Yeah. I won't. I guess I'll have to try drugs instead." He laughs a little then ends up gaging, and hurling again. When he's done I hand him a tissue for his mouth.  
"That's not funny."  
"What? the drugs thing?"  
"Yes."  
"Well it's true. It was awesome to not feel for a few minutes..." He cringes. "Now I feel too much."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Why are you sorry?"  
"Spencer's real hard on for you getting drunk. And getting in a fight. But I just feel sorry for you. Sorry that you felt the need to get drunk."  
He shrugs. "Thanks, I guess."  
I stay with Toby just so he's not alone and sick. I sit and read, while he lays all curled up, resting while he can before his stomach churns and he's throwing up again. But surprisingly, after an hour, Spencer comes back it.  
"I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep." She tells me. "Is he asleep?"  
"Probably." I tell her. She shrugs and sits next to him. "It's five thirty in the morning. You're still up with him?"  
I nod. "If it were me, I'd want somebody on my side. Someone to stay with me."  
She nods. "Now I feel bad."  
"Don't." I say. "If it were Ezra, I wouldn't be in there with him."  
She nods in agreence. "But I would."  
"Exactly."  
"Well I'll take over." She says, looking down at her beat up, bruised, pale, sick boyfriend. "I just want to be with him... I'm not too mad anymore."  
I close my book and stand up. I go into the bedroom and bring back pillows for her and a seperate blanket from the one Toby's using. When I come back Toby's awake and throwing up again, and Spencer's rubbing his back and talking softly to him. Then, when he's finished, they curl up together on the floor, and Spencer runs his fingers through his hair while he falls back asleep. I know she's doing this because she knows, that if it were her, she'd want it done for her. I go back into my own room and look at Ezra, who's also been beat up and bruised. I see he's fallen asleep with cold, melting icepacks all over him, and no blankets, and with the lights on. I turn the lights off and remove the icepacks, returing them to the fridge. Then I cover him with a blanket and get in bed. And I'm not one to pray. I never have been. But if it were me, I know I'd want it done for me. So I lay in bed and pray for Ezra and how he was hurt by his own cousin. Physically and emotionally. And then I find myself praying for Chris... For Toby and Spencer. And even for Alison's family who I haven't thought of in a long time. And then, finally, I roll over to go to sleep. I close my eyes and try and fall asleep. And I'm almost asleep, then I hear the loud scream of the roaster telling us it's time to wake up. I open my eyes and see the sun's rising. I moan and roll over. And luckily, I've done enough  
during the night for everyone else, that no one wakes me up. Because they know that if it were them, they'd just want to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

*Ezra's POV*

The next morning, I wake up really early and go downstairs. I see Aunt Betty sitting on the couch reading her Bible and sipping coffee.  
"Goodmorning Aunt Betty." I say coming into the living room.  
"Ezra!" Aunt Betty stands up and puts her hand on my face. "What happened? You're all bruised and swollen!"  
"Is anyone else awake?" I ask, quickly.  
"No, just me. What's going on?"  
"Toby and Chris got into a fight. I tried to break it up and..." I motion to my black eye.  
"What ever were they fighting about?!"  
"Uh..." I pause. "Alison."  
"Alison? Dilorentes?"  
"Yeah. They got to sharing stories and apparently when Chris moved here, Alison cheated on him with Toby. And then he found out and before he found out who it was... Alison died. And he just  
found out."  
"Oh, my..."  
"Yeah..."  
"But they got into a physical fight over that?"  
"There may have been a little acohal involved. A lot."  
"Oh, I'm sure there was... They were both under the infulence?"  
"Both of them."  
"And I can only imagine who's fault that one was."  
"It wasn't all Chris's fault. Toby took the bait."  
"Toby's lost and confused and Chris knew better. And did Chris start the fight too?"  
I explain how the fight started.  
"Well. I don't know what we can do about this besides send one of them off."  
"It can't be that hard to get them to make up. Or at least not fight."  
"Good luck." She sighs. "I would send Chris somewhere but this is his home... And besides, he needs to be punished. And getting sent off wouldn't be a punishment. He'd love it. So you have three  
days to get the two of them from fighting or Toby has to find somewhere else to stay."  
"I understand."  
"Is Toby badly hurt?"  
"Kinda." I said. "More from Spencer's anger than Chris's fists."  
"She's being hard on him?"  
"She's pregnant and he's getting drunk."  
"Very true. She has a right to be angry."  
"You don't seem too upset about Chris."  
"This is typical behavior." She says. "I'm used to it. But don't worry I will punish him for it."  
"I miss Daniel." I spit out. My Aunt looks at me shocked. I haven't spoken of Daniel since he left. She doesn't know what to say. "He always kept everyone inline."  
She nods and re-gains her composer. "Chris did take a liking to him."  
"Yeah..." I agree. "Oh well. If you'll exuse me.. I'm going to go upstairs and make sure I can keep Toby and Chris away from each other."  
"Oh, don't worry about that." Aunt Betty says. "I'm going to wake up Chris right now and give him what-for."  
"Thanks." I say. "I wasn't looking foward to getting hit again."  
She laughs. "I'm sorry about that, Ezra."  
"It's okay." I say.  
"And I'm sorry about Aria."  
"What about Aria?" I ask curiously.  
"Well, she's depressed."  
"Depressed?" I ask, my eye brows rising.  
"You haven't noticed?"  
"She's a littlw down lately but..."  
"She's depressed."  
"I'm not sure..."  
"She's on a farm in Kansas. She cuts herself and she cries a whole lot when she's alone. I hear her. She's depressed."  
"She cuts herself?" I ask.  
"You didn't know?"  
"No, I do know it's just..." I pause. "How did you know?"  
"I saw. She reached up to grab something off of the top shelf in the kitchen and I saw it. It didn't surprise me. She's depressed. You can see it."  
"Oh..."  
"You don't see it?"  
"She's just having a hard time..."  
"Keep an eye on her." She says.  
"You think she's dangerous to herself?" I ask.  
"I didn't say that. I said keep an eye on her. Make sure she's safe. And try and get her to open up."  
I nod. "I will, but she's fine. Really. I don't think it's nessesary. But I will."  
"Okay then." We go upstairs together and she goes into Chris's room and closes the door behind her. "Christopher Michael Fitz!" I hear. I hide for cover in my bedroom with Aria.  
It's raining loudly outside, but there's no thunder or concerning clouds. I get back under the covers and scoot next to Aria. She wakes up and looks at me. "Hey.." She mutters, sleepily.  
"Goodmorning." I say. She blinks a few times.  
"I'm so tired." She says. "I was up so late..."  
"Oh, I know..." I say. "I wasn't trying to wake you up. Come here..." I scoot her over to me. "Lay your head down and go back to sleep."  
She smiles and then lays in my arms and falls back asleep to the sound of the rain. She smiles in her sleep. I kiss her shoulder. She's not depressed. I take care of her. Aunt Betty just doesn't know her.  
Aria's fine... She has me and I wouldn't let her get depressed. She's fine. Everything's okay.


	20. Chapter 20

-Spencer-

Dinner was really awkward that night. Betty wants everyone to have dinner around the dinner table every night. And I guess Toby and Chris's fight made no exceptions. It's  
silent. You can hear everyone chewing. Aria puts down her fork and it makes me jump. "Okay." She says. "So I was on facebook tonight, right?" She looks at Toby and me.  
"Uh.. Right?" I say.  
"Guess who's getting married?"  
"Who?" Toby asks, relieved the silence has been broken.  
"Ms. Welsh." Ms. Welsh is our science teacher.  
"Really?" Ezra asks. "That's nice."  
"Yeah." She says. "I thought it was nice."  
"Were any students invited?" Toby asks.  
"Yeah." Aria says. "Anyone who was in her class."  
"I don't see why anyone would invite Toby to a wedding." Chris mutters. "He'd just steal the bride away and then let her die."  
"You know what?" Toby stands up and his plate shakes.  
"GUYS." Uncle John yells. "Sit and relax. Neither of you speak." Toby sits down, embarressed. I also look down embarresed.  
"This is so out of hand." Aria says. "Really guys, this is so unhealthy. Don't you see Alison is the problem? Chris, it's not Toby's fault, he didn't know."  
"Oh, okay, gonna play therepist with me now?" Chris barks at Aria.  
"Obviously you need one."  
"Obviously YOU need one more." He says.  
"What's that's suppossed to mean?" She asks.  
"Guys... just drop it." I warn. I know where this is going.  
"You're the one cutting yourself." He says staring daggers through her.  
Aria freezes.  
"Chris!" Betty says. "You may leave the table, NOW."  
Chris gets up and goes outside. Ezra throws his napkin down and follows him. "Oh boy." Uncle John gets up to go break up the fight that will no doubt take place.  
"Peter you may be exused." Betty tells him. Peter takes his plate into the kitchen and leaves. Aria still remains frozen as she was.  
"Aria..." I put my hand on hers. She doesn't pull away or move or do anything.  
"Aria," Betty says. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
Aria gets up and goes upstairs without a word.  
"I didn't know he knew." I say to Betty and Toby.  
"I didn't know." Toby said. "Wow... That's... wow..."  
"One of us should go talk to her." Aunt Betty says,  
"I can go get Ezra." Toby says.  
"Yeah," I say. "Go get Ezra."

-Ezra-

"Aria just open the door." I say to the closed bathroom door. "Please?"  
"I just wanna be alone."  
"Are you in there cutting yourself in there?"  
Aria swings the door open. "No." She says. She throws a towel at me. "I was GONNA take a shower but never mind." Then she slams the door. "Go away."  
"Aria why are you mad at me?!"  
"Just go away."  
"Answer me."  
"I'm not mad I just don't want to talk."  
I take a long breath. "Do you want me to talk?"  
"No."  
I pause for a long time. The other side of the door is silent. Spencer walks in the room and sits on the bed. But she doesn't say anything.  
"Do you want Spencer?" I finally ask, even though I'm upset I can't help her myself.  
There's silence for a while, and I'm hoping she says no.  
"No."  
Spencer's face remains the same.  
"What do you want then?"  
"For you to go away." She replies.  
"Aria!" I snap back at her.  
"Go away."  
"No."  
"Ezra go away."  
"Ezra.." Spencer puts her hand on my shoulder. "You should just let her be."  
I go and sit on the bed. Spencer slides her hand under the door. "Take it." She says. Aria takes her hand.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"No."  
"Not to anyone?"  
Silence.  
"Want Aunt Betty?"  
"No."  
"Your mom?"  
"No."  
"Toby?"  
"No."  
"Then what do you want us to do?"  
"Leave me alone."  
Spencer sighs and takes her hand back. "Okay."  
She leaves the room and gestures me to follow.  
"She just wants to be alone. Let's go."  
We go down the stairs. "Is Aria alright?" Aunt Betty asks us."  
We both look at each other and shrug. Neither of us know what to say.  
"Well, John and I have a dear friend who just got rushed to the ER with a heart attack." She starts, walking towards the door. We follow her. "We're going to go down to the  
hospital and be with her family while she's in sugery."  
"Okay." Spencer says. "Hope your friend's okay."  
Aunt Betty takes Spencers hand. I supress a giggle at Spencer's awkward facial reaction "And I hope yours is, too." Aunt Betty says to Spencer. Spencer half smiles and takes  
her hand back. Aunt Betty grabs her purse. "John's waiting for me in the car so I need to go. I trust you all can hold down the fort?"  
"Sure." I say.  
"No Chris and Toby fights." Aunt Betty reminds us. "And Ezra?"  
"Yes?"  
"Keep an eye on Aria. And make sure she's safe."  
I nod. I will keep an eye on her. But I can tell Aunt Betty is still implying she's depressed. And okay, maybe she is.


	21. Chapter 21

Aria

I don't wanna see anyone. I don't want to talk to anyone. And that's why I've locked myself in the bathroom. But that doesn't mean I'm bored out of my mind. When I finally come  
out of here, it'll be because I'm bored, not because I'm ready to stop being childish and talk about my problems. There's a knock at the door. "What?" I ask.  
"Can I come in?"  
Surprisingly, it's not Ezra or Spencer. It's Chris. And even more surprisingly, I open the door. Chris comes in and sits on the floor next to me.  
"I'm sorry." he says. "I'm just angry."  
I don't say anything.  
"I know we don't talk, and you think I'm trouble. And you're right. But I shouldn't have gone that far. But just cause I'm apologizing doesn't mean we're friends and it doesn't mean you can cry on my  
shoulder about your messed up life."  
"I'm not gonna cry." I say. "And you are aware Ali was my friend, too."  
"I know. Poor you."  
"Yup. But... Chris?"  
"What?"  
"I know you used to cut yourself also."  
"Okay?"  
"How'd you stop?"  
He laughs. "I told you. We aren't friends."  
"Chris."  
His face softens. "Okay. Fine. I got this nasty infection from a cut so I stopped and started drinking instead."  
"So in other words I should find a new addiction."  
"You're a jerk you know that right?"  
"That's something you and Ali agreed on." He holds out his hand. "now get up, toughen up and either fight this, or give up. Don't linger in depression. Either climb up or let yourself fall."  
I take his hand and stand up.

* * *

Ezra

"Ezra get up!" My eyes fly open. Spencer's shaking me. "Ezra get up we need your help come on!" She pulls my arm and I stumble to my feet. I hear cracks of thunder and lighting lights up the room.  
So I can only imagine we'll be wrangling in cows for a tornado. Luckily there are supplies to make up beds in the basement and soon I can go right back to sleep. Then, the lightning lights up the room so  
bright I see Spencer's hands are covered in blood and some is even smudged on her face. And so now, I start to worry.  
"What's going on?!" I ask, following her run.  
"It's Aria."  
She takes me into the bathroom that's connected to her and Toby's bedroom. Aria's laying on the ground and she had blood pour out of her wrists like a facet. Toby's on the phone with 911.  
"What happened?" I ask. But I don't need an answer. I get down on my knees next to Aria and my PJ pants get damp with spots of blood on my knees. "Spencer get towels." I tell her.  
She grabs a few from the hamper. "No," I say. "Clean ones." Spencer runs to the other bathroom to find clean towels.  
I rub Aria's hair. She's hyperventilating like she's having a panic attack. She probably is. I would be too. Half of me is mad at her. The other half wants to hold her and tell her everything'll be okay.  
"Damn it!" Toby slams the phone down. "Phone line's out."  
"Use your cell phone." I say trying to stay calm for Aria.  
"No reception."  
"Try my phone." I use my hand and apply pressure to Aria's wrists.  
"It's okay they already sent an ambulance. There's nothing else they can do anyway." Toby says. "What else can I do?"  
"Go get Aunt Betty and Uncle John."  
"They're not home."  
"What do you mean?! It's two am, where are they?"  
"Hospital with their friend."  
"Still?"  
Spencer walks in now. "There's been three tornado's tonight. They stayed there for safety reasons." She wraps Aria's arm up in a towel. "This isn't gonna work." She says. "It'll keep the bleeding from  
going everywhere but it won't stop it. Nothing will besides stitches..."  
"Well we need to slow it down." I say.  
"It is slowing down." She says, pressing down on it.  
"Ouch!" Aria squeals. "That hurts"  
"You should've thought of that before you -"  
"Shut up, Spencer." I tell her. "Go get..." I sigh. "Go get Chris."  
"Chris?"  
"Both of you, go, now. Get Chris. Tell him what happened and that the ambulnce is held up be weather." When Spencer stands up, the blood from her knees drip down her legs  
and onto her toes. She makes little stains on the carpet as she walks into the bedroom and into the hall way to get Chris.  
Aria leans back and closes her eyes. She stops crying and starts to turn pale.  
"Hey, Aria..." I stroak her hair. "It's gonna be okay."  
"No..." She mutters. "It can't be..."  
"What do you mean, sweetheart?"  
"Don't take me to the hospital..."  
"Aria, you're losing blood, you don't know what's going on. But we're gonna take you to the hospital and they'll stitch your cuts and you'll be fine..."  
"No, Ezra, I know what's going on..." she sounds drunk and sadated. She's about to pass out. She can't even hold her head up. "I don't want to be fine. You have to..."  
She trails off.  
"Have to what?"  
"Take the towels away..."  
"If we do that, you'll die..."  
She doesn't say anything. She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me.  
I start to cry now. "You don't want that, do you?"  
She closes her eyes. "Do you?!"  
"Ezra, please."  
I wrap the towels tighter. "No." I say. "Not on my watch. You don't even think about it."  
She doesn't reply. Chris comes in followed by Toby who stayes out of the way and Spencer who lingers in the doorway.  
"You might wanna give Aria some whisky to knock her out. Like now."  
He gets on his knees with the little kit in his hand. "She's already passed out." I tell him.  
"Good." He says. "This is gonna hurt." Then he laughs. Like this is funny. To him I bet it is. I want to go in the other room. I don't want to be near my cousin. Or my potentially  
dying girlfriend. But I stay. Because if Aria lives and wakes up, I want her to know I didn't leave her for anything.  
"Holy cow," Spencer says. "What is that?!" she looks at the kit in Chris's hand.  
"It's just that." He laughs. "It's for a cow. To stitch them up. You know how much it would cost to have a vet come out in the middle of night in the middle of nowhere, to stitch up a  
cow after it got snagged on a fence? We all just learned to do it ourselves."  
"You're gonna stitch up Aria's arm? Is that safe?" She shakes her head.  
"It's all we got."  
"No." Spencer says. "No. Don't do it. I don't trust you."  
"Spence." I say. "Let him. It's okay."  
"Yeah, Spence, chill." Chris laughs.  
Spencer gives him a death stare. "It's Spencer."  
"Spencer, get out." I order. "Now. And Chris, focus. This is a game to you but to me it's my entire life laying on the floor dying right now so get it together or let me do it."  
He shrugs. "Whatever. Dude, maybe you should just let her die. If you really love her -"  
"Move." Spencer shoves Chris out of the way. Toby grabs him by his shirt collar and drags him into the hall. I really hope they bring two ambulances. Maybe three.  
Spencer starts to stitch Aria's arm up.  
"You're sure you got this?" I ask.  
"Nope." She says. "But it was either me or him and I can sew really good. They'll have to re-do them at the hospital so they hold but for now this should keep her alive.  
Hopefully." She sighs. "It's really hard to know what I'm doing with all this blood."  
"Just... really really try okay?"  
"Ezra I love her just as much as you do. Don't worry. We're gonna take care of her. She'll be okay."

* * *

Spencer

The paramedics are about to put Aria in the the back of the ambulance. Toby's grabs onto my hand. "She'll be okay." He whispers.  
"Who's going with?" The paramedic asks. I step forward. So does Ezra.  
"Sorry, only room for one in the back."  
"What about the front?" I ask.  
"No seats left. Sorry."  
They load Aria in the back.  
"Ezra, you go." I tell him. "She'd want you."  
"No, she'd want you. You know it's true."  
I look down. "No. If she dies, I can't be there with her. Not alone."  
Ezra hops in the back. I kick a rock with my foot. But then I feel a tug on my arm. Ezra pulls me into the ambulance and sits me on his lap.  
"We'll stay out of the way." He tells them. The paramedics look at each other and shrug. Then they close the doors. And pull away.  
The lights aren't on. Neither is the siren. I hoped his means it wasn't urgent. Then I remembered it's because we were in the middle of no where. And no one would hear the siren  
anyways. I adjust myself on Ezra's lap so it's not as awkward. But when your best friend's dying infront of you, you tend to not care about awkward.


	22. Chapter 22

Spencer

Aunt Betty and Uncle John were already here, luckily. We all stayed the night hunched in the little hospital room. With hardly any space (including the floor which wasn't even long  
enough to allow anyone to sleep on it) I ended up sleeping with my feet on Ezra's lap. Not that I did much we all just starred at each other wondering how we got  
from where we were to where we are. In the morning Toby, Grandpa, Peter and Chris came over to the hospital too. As soon as Toby got here, we went off to get some  
breakfast. Then we found and empty room on the pre-natal floor and, well, kinda went at it. Everyone deals with stress in their own way, right? And besides, we can't have sex in  
Aunt Bettys house. And we probably won't get out for a while. Toby and I lay side by side. "Spencer..." He says breaking the silence.  
"Yeah?"  
"We need to talk about this."  
"Aria? Why? There's nothing to talk about. They'll put her on anti depressiants and we'll watch her closer and she'll be -"  
"Not Aria, Spencer, our kid."  
"What ki -" I catch myself.  
"Exactly. You don't even remember her."  
"Or him."  
"It."  
"Don't call our baby an it." I cross my arms.  
Toby sighs. "Our baby."  
I sigh. "Wow. We have a baby..."  
"We will. Maybe." Toby sits up.  
"Maybe?" I sit up also.  
"Well... are we keeping it?" He asks.  
"Don't call her -"  
"Sorry. Are we keeping our baby?"  
"I don't know..." I rub my forhead. "I guess..." "You guess?" He stands up. "This is our kid, you don't just 'guess' if you keep it or not, you have to be SURE you want it or else he's gonna grow up and his family will resent him and leave him and he'll hate his life and then he'll fun away to a freaking farm in Kansas and get a girl pregnant and get drunk a lot and end up killing himself in the bathroom and  
get stitched up by a farmer's cow stitching kit!"  
I stare at him. "Um... Toby, calm down..."  
"No, we're not keeping him."  
"What? Your just said yourself we had to be sure. We have to think about it."  
"No we don't. I'm sure. Look at Aria. She tried to kill herself mostly because of her parent's relationship problems. My dad didn't even care I was leaving home. My mom doesn't  
even live near me. And I don't even need to get started on your 'family'! Come on Spence, we have no home, no job, no support from our family... We didn't plan this baby. He's  
gonna know we resent him. You because you won't be able to go to college..."  
"And why do you resent our baby?" I ask standing up.  
Toby picks up his shirt and pulls it over his head. He crosses his arms and stares at me. Finally he let's them drop. "I don't. Not yet. But my dad resents me and my brother. And  
if for whatever reason I don't love my son or daughter..." He shakes his head. "I can't do it. I can't be my dad."  
"Then don't!" I say. "Then don't give up on your kid. Love him or her and take care of him. Don't be like your dad and toss it to the street."  
"I wouldn't. We'd find a nice family for her."  
"No family is better than her parents." I yell. "Take from me. I was raised by my sister. Do I look like I turned out well?" I point to my stomach which has finally become slightly  
larger.  
"We wouldn't stick him with a moody single mother to raise him. We'd give him a great family. Like Betty and John."  
I feel a smile creep across my face.  
"What?" Toby asks.  
"Toby, you're brilliant!"  
"You want Betty and John to adopt our child?"  
"No, but we can stay here!"  
"In their house?"  
"No, listen. You love to build stuff right?"  
"Um, sure?"  
"They have like, a BUNCH of land. You can build us a cute little house half a mile away from theirs in that empty spot that they never use. And we can get jobs here. And I'll go to  
school here. And maybe... Maybe even Aria and Ezra will move here! Maybe we can have a duplex! You and Ezra can build it together. And Aria and I can go to school here  
and they can babysit if we ever need on and Betty and John would be so close by. And we'd never have to go back to the death town of Rosewood. We can live on a farm!  
In this small little town where everyone here's so chilled and simple. And our kid can go to the same school Ezra teaches at and if he ever got sick he could just go find him!"  
"Spencer."  
"And she could have a pony."  
"Spencer."  
"We could have fresh chicken eggs for breakfast."  
"Spence..."  
"And we could be happy..."  
"Spencer..."  
"What?"  
"How many weeks pregnant are you?"  
She lets her shoulders drop. "Fifteen weeks, give or take."  
"Okay."  
"Okay?"  
"We have about 25 weeks left to decide."  
"Do you know how long it'll take to build a house?"  
"First thing's first."  
"What?"  
"There's a 24 hour free clinic across the street from this hospital."  
"So?"  
"You're smart. Can they tell the sex at 15 weeks?"  
I raise my eye brows. "Sometimes."  
"Well, let's go see if it's a he or a she. Cause if that's my son in there, I don't wanna be calling him a her anymore."  
I laugh. "Um, well, okay... I guess we can go..."  
"Good. Put your jeans back on and we'll go."  
"But wait, Toby.."  
"What?"  
"Aria..."  
"We can see her before we leave."  
"No, I mean... She'd wanna come..."  
"Spence..."  
"Toby, she's my bestfriend."  
"But Spencer this baby was made by the two of us. Last time I checked I don't remember Aria being there the night we had sex."  
"So?"  
"This should be between us."  
I pull on my jeans. "You have to understand something. I am as straight as straight gets. And I'm sure you know that already considering you got me pregnant. But the friendship  
I have with her is deep. She's not just there to listen to my problems and keep me company at the lunch table and pose in pictures for Facebook. I would risk my life for her, I  
would take her pain away and put it on my own shoulders if I could. And I know she would do the exact same thing for me. Like I said; I'm not gay. And I'm sure I'll marry a man  
who I will also call my best friend, maybe even you, and he'll be the love of my life. But she the person I was matched with before I was born. She is without a doubt my soul mate.  
You excuse me if I don't want to go see my baby for the first time while she's laying in a hospital bed after a suicide attempt."  
He sighs. "Maybe bringing her back the pictures will cheer her up. Make her want to get better."  
"Maybe seeing it herself would make her feel better."

"Aria?" I knock on the door. I'm not sure who's gonna be in there when I walk in. It's just her and Ezra right now.  
"Hey!" She smiles at me. "Where you've been? humping Toby's bones somewhere?"  
I look over at Ezra. He's asleep.  
"You know me all too well." I sit down on her bed. "You seem to be feeling a lot better."  
"Yeah. I do. They have my a few doeses of seditives. I feel better."  
"Aria, what was that about? You tried to kill yourself."  
"What? No! I didn't. I just... went too deep."  
"You told Ezra to let you die. We had to wait till after you passed out to try and save you."  
"What?" She puts her magazine down. "I don't remember that..."  
I nod. "So you didn't want to die?"  
"No. Of course not."  
"Why'd you cut yourself, anyways?"  
"Well, you know, once you start you can't ever stop..."  
"Who the hell said that?" I stand up. And I even wake up Ezra.  
"Chris."  
"When?!"  
"Last night. He came in to apologize. He told me to either climb up or let myself fall."  
"So you decided to just give up and give into it?"  
"No. I was..."  
"What?"  
"Saying goodbye. To self harm. I was doing it one last time..."  
"That's not how it works."  
"Spencer, come on, I had a hard night."  
"So did I. I almost watched you die."  
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean for it to go that far. But I'm done now."  
"You promise?"  
"Promise."  
What's his problem?' I ask.  
"I don't know."  
"Is he mad?"  
"Kinda."  
"I am too." I lean back.  
"I know. I'm sorry."  
I sigh. "Anyways. Toby says he wants to give up the baby."  
"Why!?" She sits up straight. "You can't, that's my godchild."  
"I know."  
"Do you want to keep it?"  
"I think I do."  
"Even if you can't go to college?"  
"I'm not sure..." I shrug.  
"What if he saw the baby?" Aria asks. "Maybe you guys would both know what to do. When's your ultrasound?"  
"In a week."  
She moans. "Too far away. Hey, go to that clinic across the street. They're free. And open. Go. You two. Now."  
I can't help but laugh. "What about you though?"  
"What about me?"  
"Don't you wanna come."  
"They will be plenty of ultrasounds. I'll come to the next one. Just bring me back pictures. Okay? Now go. Please? I wanna know if it's a boy or girl."  
"Fine." I smile. "We'll go. We'll be back soon."  
"Good luck!"  
"Thanks. See you soon."  
I open the door and go into the hall.  
"Well?" Toby asked. "What'd she say?"  
"She said we should go. Actually she thought it was her idea. You didn't pay her did you?"  
Toby laughs and takes my hand. "No. Great minds think alike, that's all."


	23. Chapter 23

Toby

"Alright, this is gonna be kinda cold. Sorry about that." The nurse puts cold gel on Spencer's stomach.  
"It's fine." She says.  
"Excited?" She asks, looking at us.  
"Defanatly." Spencer says.  
I shrug. "Sure."  
She flips the picture of the baby on the screen. My little child, right infront of my eyes.

*****  
After the ultrasound, we go back to the hospital. We sit in the lobby before going up to see Aria.  
"He's beautiful." Spencer smiles at me. We look over the pictures of our baby boy.  
"He sure is, isn't he?"  
"I think he has your nose!" She laughs.  
"Spence, he barely even has a nose."  
"You know what else he barely has?"  
"What's that?" I ask.  
"A family." She puts the pictures down.  
"He does have a family."  
"Yeah, with who? Us? A foster family?"  
"Us." I take her hand. "We'll do whatever we have to. But that baby is ours."  
She smiles. "I knew you'd come around.

* * *

Spencer

"Ariaaaa!" I dance into the room.  
"Hey!" She puts her book down. "Boy or girl?"  
"I'm not telling you."  
"What?" She throws her hands down. "Why?"  
"Cause" I smile and sit on her bed. "I want you to see for yourself."  
I show her the pictures. She flips through them. "Spence." She smiles at me. "I'm gonna have a godson?"  
"Maybe." I say.  
"Maybe?"  
"I'm having a son. But whether you'll be the godmother, I don't know."  
"Toby still doesn't want to keep him?"  
"No, he does. But I don't want my sons godmother killing herself."  
She looks down. "I-"  
"Aria!" Aunt Betty comes in with her hands on her hips. "I know you're not feeling great but I need your help."  
"With?" Aria gets out of bed and slips her flip flops on with her pajamas.  
"Your boyfriend." She rolls her eyes.  
"Um," She shurgs. "Okay."  
She points at me. "You should come. I may need back up." I stand up and follow her into the lobby with Aunt Betty.  
"They had a huge fight in the lobby, so I made Chris go home and sent Ezra to the chapel, because it was quiet."  
"Chris and Ezra had fight? What kind? Physical?" I ask.  
"Very physical."  
"Over?" Aria asks, wrapping her blanket over her shoulders.  
"I'm not sure. That's why I need you to help find out."  
We reach the chapel door. "I'll go. You guys stay."

* * *

Ezra

"Ezra?" I hear Aria come into the chapel  
I turn around. "Why're you out of your room?"  
"What're you doing beating up Chris?" She crosses her arms.  
"Aria, come on." I stand up.  
"Tell me."  
"Tell me why you wanted to kill yourself." Now I cross my arms, too.  
"I didn't!" I raise my voice.  
"Yeah you did. And the reason I beat up Chris is same reason why you tried to kill yourself."  
"But I didn't try to -"  
"Yes, you did."  
"Ezra Fitz, No I didn't!" She gets inches away from my face. But she's a head shorter than me, and I'm not afraid of her.  
"Yes, you did. Because Chris came in and told you nothing gets better, that everything will get worse, and you shouldn't try and fight. Which is why I beat him up."  
She looks me over. Then she looks away. She looks at the alters at the front of the room and walks towards it.  
"Arria?"  
She kneels down and folds her hands.  
"What are you -"  
"Shh." She puts up her hand. "Be quiet, I'm trying to pray."  
"Since when do you pray?" I walk over and stand behind her.  
"Dear Lord,"  
"Aria,"  
"Ezra seriously be quiet."  
I obey.  
"Please help Ezra to get over his anger towards Chris, and forgive me for almost dying on him. Oh and uh, please don't let Chris kill Ezra. Amen." She stands up.  
"Since tried to kill myself and passed out and saw God's face." She says. "That's when I started praying."  
I kiss the top of her head.  
"I did want to die." She says. "I'm sorry I was going to leave you. But now, I'm here for good. You can't get rid of me."  
"What changed?" I ask.  
"I realized it'll get better." She wraps the blaket around her tighter. "I realized even though my parents grew up and had an awful life, I didn't have to. Cause I have something they don't."  
"Me?" I joke.  
"Yeah. You. And God."  
I wink at her. "Whatever works for you."  
We hold hands and walk out of the chapel.  
"Hey." She says to Aunt Betty and Spencer. "Problem solved."

I'm sooo sorry it's been so long.


	24. Chapter 24

Aria

"Alright everyone." Aunt Betty gathered all the kids in the living room.  
"We need to talk."  
I fidget with the bandaids that I have to keep on my wrists till the stitches come out. Spencer looks over at me. Her face is asking what's going on. 'I don't know' I reply the best I can without speaking.  
She points at Chris first. "From now on, you don't speak a word to Aria unless it's about who's turn it is to wash the dishes or something of that matter. Understood?"  
"Yes ma'am." He rolls his eyes. His black eyes. My boyfriend can hit, hard.  
"And you, Ezra." He looks up.  
"Be mature. Don't beat my son no matter how stupid he's been."  
"Yes Aunt Betty."  
"Toby." She goes over to him.  
Spencer and I exchange a look.  
"You're going to be a father. And Spencer has informed me you wish to keep this baby. And at the end of the summer, I know you're going home and whatever you do is your business. But while you  
live here I require you to have a full time job to save up money for your child."  
"I agree." Spencer says. "I can get one, too. At least part time."  
"So do I." Toby nods. "I'll get right on it."  
"Good."  
Crud. Now she's looking right at me. "I'm going to be searching your room for any sharp objects or medications."  
I gulp. "Okay..."  
"And I'm calling your parents."  
"I figured."  
"And we're doing full body cut checks every night."  
"That's fine..."  
"And you can't be in a room alone for more than a few minutes unless you're in the bathroom."  
"Wait, what?" I raise my eye brows.  
"I'm sorry, Aria. I cannot have you hurting or killing yourself on my watch."  
"I need a babysitter?"  
"It's okay, Aria." Ezra looks at me. "You'll either be with me or Spencer most of the time anyways."  
I sigh. "Fine."  
"There's more."  
Chris laughs. He thinks this is histerical.  
"You, Spencer and Toby all need to see a counseler."  
"What?" Spencer's eye brows furrow together and she narrows her eyes. "You're kidding right?"  
"You can choose between talking to one of the pastors at our church, me, or if you have any ways of paying for it, you can go for a licsened therapist."  
We all groan and agree.  
"One last thing. And there will be no reaction from any of you what-so-ever. Save it for each other outside." She points to the yard.  
Now I really hold my breath.  
"Uncle John is at the air port picking up a guest right now." She looks directly at Ezra now. "There will be no fighting. No violence, no agruing, no conflict."  
Spencer and I look at each other from the corner of our eyes.  
"So..." She puts her hands in her jean pockets. "Go get ready. Daniel will he here any minute."

* * *

For anyone who doesn't remember, here's a bit of a flashback from a chapter eight and chapter ten.

-Aria-

No sooner than we open the door, Chris runs down the stairs, bucket in hand, and is stopped by Ezra's Uncle John. "Now, you go greet your cousin and his girlfriend. She's family now." John gives me a wink and pushes Chris forward.  
"Ezra, nice to see you. How's Daniel?" Chris asks, reaching to shake Ezra's hand. Ezra's arms stay locked to his sides, fists clenched. Daniel, Ezra's older brother, was a recovering drug addict. Whenever someone mentions Daniel, he changes the subject. Ezra hates his brother. You'd think the family of someone with an addiction would be loving and supporting, right? Well, turns out Daniel stole money from their mother. Last time Ezra saw him was when Daniel boarded the plane to Chicago, where his dad lived. Not a visit, phone call, or even an email since. "H-h-hey, I didn't mean it like that.. I just thought maybe he came back…" An awkward silence passed through the room.

-Ezra-

I sit and pet the horses, remembering all the times we had in here. Since we all lived in PA, we'd usually all come here every summer to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I go over to a spot in the corner we all liked. Daniel, being the oldest, would always drag a pile a hay over to the corner and stand on it, look down on us and give us our orders for cleaning the barn. Even though we had already gotten our chore list for the day. He wanted to look over us and boss us around. I never complained, but little Chris stood up to him every time. Finally, I drag an old pike of hay over to the old spot. I stand on it, and look around. It's weird seeing things how my brother sees them. Or saw them, I guess. I sit down on the hay and look around the barn that never changes. not physically anyway. But the times spent in here sure have. I'd give anything to have things be this way again. Even if I meant giving Daniel or even Chris the upper hand. Even when Daniel was on top, he'd offer his hand down and pull me up. I miss that. A lot.

* * *

Please comment with feedback on what I can do better. I'm so grateful for you guys reading and commenting! It makes my day!

And on a side note, Bailey and Jon aren't writing the story anymore (too busy with school, etc.) So it's just Anna, which is why I haben't been posting who the chapter's by anymore.


	25. Chapter 25

Aria

Ezra paces back and forth. "Daniel. She called DANIEL."  
I rub my head. "She did it for your own good."  
"Did you know about this?" He stops pacing.  
"Uh, well -"  
"And you didn't tell me?"  
"Did you know they were putting me under 24/7 babysitting watch?"  
"Well of course I did, I was the one who demanded it."  
"So now we're even."  
He sits down on our neatly made bed. He takes his shoes off. "Well when HE gets here tell him I'm sick."  
"Oh, no you don't." I take both his hands. "Stop."  
He rolls his eyes.  
"You're gonna see your brother, you're gonna face the fact that he left you guys, you're gonna fight it out, then you're gonna move on. Okay?"  
"I'm not allowed to fight."  
I shrug. "Whatever. You got my point."  
"Aria I haven't seen him in years."  
"I know. And it's okay to be nervous."  
I stand up. "But it's not okay to run away." I hold out my arm for him to take my hand. He takes it and stands up.  
"Are you gonna cover up the bandaids?" He asks.  
"Well," I look at them. "I wasn't planning on it, considering it's really hot today. But if you don't want Daniel to see them -"  
"No, It's not that." I slips his hands into mine. He tilts his head down so he can see, and I tilt mine up.  
"It's just that..."  
"I know." I say. I take my long sleeve shirt off the bed. "Don't worry. I'll change into a long sleeve shirt. You don't want Daniel to know just yet. It's okay." I slip it on.  
"Tomorrow. Okay? Tomorrow you can wear your sexy tank tops again." He smiles at me.  
"And soon I can wear my bikini." I wink and walk out the door. He moans excitedly and follows me. We go down the stairs laughing, but Ezra stops suddenly. I follow his gaze.  
"Ezra?" Daniel walks towards us. Spencer's sitting at the table. It looks like she was eating and doing something on her laptop. She's not eating now, though, she's starring at Daniel from the back of  
him. Aunt Betty looks more than thrilled that Daniels here, she even looks slightly satisfied with her idea.  
Daniel has Ezra's eyes. The exact same eyes. Just like Chris. His hair is blond, a dirty blond, also like Chris's.  
"Ezra, hey, wow... you look..." He looks him from the toes up. "You look so good. So old."  
"Well growing up tends to happen over time."  
I don't know if he's being rude or trying to make a joke. Daniel notices the tention but ignores it. "You must be Aria."  
He sticks out his hand and I shake it. "Nice to meet you."  
"You did well, Ezra, she's gorgious."  
I blush. Ezra turns red too, but not with embarresment.  
"I know she is." He says.  
"So..." Spencer steps in. She stands up. "Hey, you two should talk." She crosses her arms. She grabs Daniel and Ezra by the shirt.  
"Spence!" Ezra yells. I can't help but laugh.  
Spencer drags the two of them into the laundry room, closes the door and locks it from the outside. She smiles at me.  
"Spencer, what are you thinking?!" Ezra bangs on the door. "Sorry, Aunt Betty's orders. I'm not allowed to let you two out till you've worked your problem out."  
I raise an eye brow. "Did she really ask you to do that?" I whisper as we walk away.  
"She did. Seriously."  
"Why didn't she do it herself?"  
She shurgs. "Who knows."  
We sit back down at the round kitchen table. Aunt Betty places a plate of cookies infront of us. "Thanks, Spencer. I appretiate it."  
"No problem." Spencer takes a warm chocolate chip cookie and puts it in her mouth.  
"So, Aria." Aunt Betty sits down. "How do you feel?"  
I think about this.  
Honestly, I feel better. Better than before. But not good. I hurt Ezra and Spencer. I'm sure other people, too. I scared myself.  
My wrists hurt, I feel like sleeping all day, I don't want to eat. I'm scared as to what's going to happen with Spencer and her child. I'm scared Ezra won't be able to handle this visit with Daniel. I'm  
scared about everything. All the time.  
I look up at Aunt Betty. "I'm fine, thanks."


	26. Chapter 26

Ezra

"Look, Z, we're not gonna get out of here till we talk." Daniel sits on the dryer. I look around the laundry room. Suddenly, the wall paper looks so intresting. Much more intresting than asking where the heck Daneil's been. "Don't call me Z." I say.  
"Yeah, I know, I shouldn't call you anything. You're mad. I get it. But can we talk?"  
I sit down now, too. The floor is cold. "Okay. You talk. I'll listen."  
"I'm sorry I left. Actually, I'm not. I'm sorry I never came back. I'm sorry I put you through losing a brother. I'm sorry I didn't stay in contact."  
"Why didn't you?" I ask.  
"I was... welll..."  
"Stoned."  
"Pretty much. But I'm clean now. Going on seven months."  
"Good for you."  
"I payed mom her money back, plus more."  
"Okay." I shrug. I really don't care.  
"I got a really nice job..."  
"Daniel." I stand up. "Why are you here?"  
"Because Aunt -"  
"Aunt Betty called you, I know. But I called you. I called you five times a day every day for a year. And Aunt Betty calls and suddenly you're on a plane?"  
He looks down. "Aunt Betty was the one to convince me to see you again. She told me it was time to forgive myself. And ask for your forgiveness."  
We're both quiet. I don't have anything to say to him. The washer gets louder and louder in the backround.  
"I got married." He finally says.  
Now, this catches my attention.  
"Really?"  
"Really. Last year."  
"Well... Uh, congrats."  
"Thanks."  
I look down at my bare feet. "You know, Aria... she tried to kill herself a few days ago."  
"Oh, Ezra..."  
I stop him before he starts the sympathy.  
"And you know what I wanted?" I cross my arms against my chest.  
Daniel and I are both wearing the same type of flanel shirts, rolled up because of the heat. We always were a lot alike.  
He shakes his head.  
"I wanted someone to call. Someone to help me through it. I wanted my big brother. And you weren't there. You weren't anywhere."  
"I know. I'm sorry. But I'm here now. And I miss you."  
I look at him for a while. He doesn't break his stare though.  
"I missed you, too." I finally say.  
I'm mad at my brother for what he did. But if Aria has to get better, I do too. And that means forgiving my brother.


	27. Chapter 27

Spencer  
_June 20th, 2012_

_Okay, Aunt Betty got us ALL notebooks to write down our 'feelings' in. And I don't really have much to say. But I figured I'd write a little in this thing to look like I'm playing along. I mean I_  
_am rooming here for free, it's the least I can do._  
_I'm about sixteen weeks pregnant today. I don't really care, though. Daniel and I have been talking a lot. He's been here for a week or so now. And he's been talking about how if his mother hadn't_  
_had him so young, he probably wouldn't have ever touched any drugs. And it got me to thinking, I really don't want to do this to little Toby jr. So I told Daniel I was going to give him up for adoption._  
_But not to tell Toby, because I didn't want him to know yet. I have no idea what he's thinking about this... I just feel really guilty for convincing him to keep this baby, only to decide I'm going to give him_  
_up. But Daniel said his wife can't have babies. She had ovarian cancer as a teenager. And they were looking to adopt a little baby boy from Florida but his mother changed her mind. He told me to_  
_consider letting him adopt the baby. It WOULD be nice to know he's going to a good family..._

* * *

Toby  
_June 21st, 2012_

_Spencer had another doctors appointment today, and our little boy is so beautiful. I'm just counting down the days until I can hold him in my arms. Feel his soft little hands around my_  
_finger, and eventually hear him call me dad. I know I sound cheesy but I feel like this little unborn baby has melted any hardest in me to butter. I'm so happy Spencer convinced me to keep him..._

* * *

Aria  
_June 24th, 2012_

_Something really REALLY weird happened today. I got a text today. A really weird one. It said_  
_"Looks like your little godson will have the last name of Fitz soon. Wow, good luck being an Aunt! - A"_  
_I have NO idea what it means or who it's from. My it's freaking me out. It was obviously meant for me. This can't POSSIBLY mean Ezra was the one to get Spencer pregnant... right? I mean that_  
_doesn't make sense. Cause that wouldn't make me an aunt. It'd make me a step mom. Actually it wouldn't make me anything cause we aren't married. If Daniel was having a baby though, that'd make_  
_me the kind of aunt. If we got married. But the godson part is Spencer's baby... It just makes no sense. I'm gonna ask Spencer about it when she gets home, but right now she's out on a date with_  
_Toby. But I guess the most important question is; who the heck is A?_


	28. Chapter 28

Spencer

"Spence-" Aria comes charging down the stairs. "Hey, Toby, I need to borrow her." She tugs on my arm. Her grip is still so light, from the blood loss I guess. Every time she touches me, my skin crawls. I feel like if I touch her she's going to break. I look at Toby and shrug. "Sorry." I say. I slowly take my arm back from Aria and walk with her up the stairs. She charges up them, and I find myself  
taking them much slower than usual. As we're going up them, Aunt Betty is coming down.  
"Ah, just the girls I needed to see!" She smiles. "I need your help with something in the guest house." "You mean where Grandpa lives?" I ask. She nods and scoots us downstairs. Aria groans but follows us. It's a long walk to the house. Which Is why we don't see grandpa often. Aunt Betty lags behind us ever so slightly and Aria jumps on the opportunity to tell me whatever the big deal is. "I got this text today about you."  
"From?" I get a little worried.  
"I don't know, that's the thing."  
"Lemme see it." I say holding out my hand.  
"My phones up-" she stops walking. "Ew!" she look down. "I think I stepped in cow poop."  
Aunt Betty catches up now.  
"But the cows don't - oh, Aria, that's an ant pile!"  
Aria jumps put of the way an hits the aunts off of her foot. "Shit!"  
"Aria, language. You're a Christian now."  
"You're a what?" I raise my eye brows an shine my phone on her foot so she can see. "when did this happen?"  
"Can we talk about this later?" she asks.  
"You aren't allergic to fire ants ate you?"  
"No." she puts her flip flop back on.  
"Then it'll just be itchy and sore tonight but you'll b okay. We're almost to the house."  
We walk further and we don't get to talk about the text or Arias Christianity surprise as we walk, on account of Aunt Betty's story of how she almost lost her foot to fire ants.  
Finally we reach the guest house.  
It's a smaller model of the main house. Same design kitchen, two bedrooms instead of five. But it's really cute and Tobys plan is to ask if we can move in and live there. And as I'm looking a this cute country style house, I can see Toby and I being happy here. But I can't see a baby being happy with us.  
"Okay guys are you ready?"  
"For?"  
Aunt Betty smiles mysteriously and opens the front door. And who else to be standing there but two familiar rosewood faces?

* * *

Hanna

"Hanna! Emily!"  
"Seriously?!" Aria nearly jumps up and down.  
Aria and Spencer charge towards us and hug us.  
"Holy cow, Spence!" Emily pokes her stomach gentally. "You're so pregnant!"  
"That tends to happen with time." she shrugs.  
"Your belly is so cute." I tell her.  
She shrugs again. Aria gives me a look. And I sense tension between Spencer and her unborn baby.  
"But seriously what're you guys doing here?!" Spence asks.  
"We came to see you guys!" I tell her. "I didn't wanna spend the whole summer away from you two. Neither did Em."  
"Awe, Aunt Betty!" Aria hugs her. "Thank you!"  
We all three exchange a look.  
Aunt Betty looks pleased with her surprise. So she says she'll leave us to catch up an she'll call later.  
"Aria, what's up with hugging? You dont hug." Emily sits down on the living room couch and we all follow her.  
"Arias a Christian now." Spencer says.  
"Intresting." Emily doesn't care, and I can see Aria really doesnt wanna talk about it. And Spencers angry. So I change the subject.  
"How's Ezra?"  
"Fine." she smiles. "Daniel has really brought him out of his slump. And he and Toby both got jobs a week or so go so they're happy about that."  
Emily and I look at each other. She nods for me to speak  
"Guys?"  
"What is it?" aria asks.  
"Okay... We did miss you... But that's not the reason we're here.."  
"Is something wrong?"  
"We got this... Text..."  
"From A?" Arias eyes widen.  
"How'd you know?!" Emily sits up straighter.  
"I got one too."  
"What'd it say?"  
She looks at Spencer. "I can't say. It's... " she struggles to find a word.  
"Personal?" offers Emily.  
"Yeah. So was mine." Emily shifts uncomfortablely on the couch.  
"Mine wasn't." I offer. "It said 'dont kill the cow unless you want the burger -A"  
"What the hell does that mean?" Aria laughs a little, finding it to be comical.  
"Language, Aria." Spencer mocks Betty."  
"Okay, Spence, what's going on?" Aria asks. "Why're you mad?"  
Spencer looks down for a while before looking at Aria and smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry. I think it's the hormones."  
Aria doesn't look convined buy excepts it and moves on.  
"Why did you guys need to come all the way out here to tell us about this?" she asks.  
Emily sighs and scrolls through her phone. She shows me a text sent just fifteen or so hours ago. "Toby's mom didn't get out of the way soon enough. Looks like Toby's vacation will be cut short - A"  
Spencer looks at the phone.  
"What...?"  
"Spencer..." Hanna puts a hand on her knee. "Toby's mom was pronounced dead a few hours ago."  
"She.. Wait what's... What's going on?" she stutters holding back tears I think.  
"There's someone who calls themselves A who knows a lot of our secrets... And who wants to hurt us. And she ran over Toby's mom with a car yesterday, and try tried to revived her but when we got here  
we heard she had died. I'm so sorry Spence." Emily explains.  
"How... How does Toby not know this?"  
"I don't know..." I tell her.  
She gets up and run towards the door to go talk to Toby I'm sure, and Emily goes with her.  
Aria and I stay behind.  
"So... A is after us now too?" she asks, stretching her legs out on the couch where Spencer had been.  
"Hence why we fled to Kansas."  
I take my jacket off. "It's hot in here. Where's the thermostats?"  
Aria shrugs. "I've never been in here before."  
I see a line of sweat of her for head also but she wont take her jacket off.  
"Aria?" I ask. "Take your jacket off..."  
She shakes her head. "Han don't do this..."  
"Oh my gosh, you're hiding something aren't you?"  
She shakes her head. "no, of course not, I just don't want you to start your usual worry and suspicion. This is a vacation."  
I sigh and except her response. I find the thermostats and turn the air down. "Have you seen Mike?" she asks. "Is he doing okay?"  
I sit down. "Yeah, I saw him at school a few days ago. He seems fine."  
"Good," she says. "I talk to him almost every day but he lies a lot."  
"You have no choice when you're raised in Rosewood."


	29. Chapter 29

Spencer

* * *

"Toby, talk to me."  
It's the next morning and Toby hasn't said one single word since I told him about his mother. Toby sits on the edge of the bed. Aria stands next to me in the door way.  
"Tobs..." she says. "I know you don't want to talk to anyone, trust me I remember being there. But for your pregnant girlfriends sake, please say something."  
He doesn't answer, but puts his head in his hands. Aria puts her hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, I tried."  
"Thanks."  
She walks away now into her own bedroom. I walk slowly into our room like my movements are gonna set Toby off. I slowly sit down on the bed and run his back. "You know, you haven't cried... Maybe  
it'll help to -"  
Before I even finish my sentence he's burst into tears so forceful I get up and close the door before wrapping my arms around his big strong shoulders. I rub slow circles on his back until says "I just didn't get  
enough time with her."  
"I know..." I tell him. "Trust me, I know..." I make him lay down, and I lay down next to him. "What do you want me to do for you, hon?" I ask him.  
He shakes his head. "I don't know..."  
"Do you want me to talk you to sleep? You were up all night."  
He shrugs. "Yeah, I guess so..."  
Whenever either of us depressed, the other one will talk about random, usually boring things until the other falls asleep. I try for about half an hour until I've run out of things to talk about and he's still awake  
and whimpering like a kicked puppy. Not that I can blame him. "Hey, I'll be right back." I tell him. "I have to go to the bathroom."  
"I'll be here..." He mutters. I pat his hand and scoot myself off the bed and slip on my slippers before walking out of the bedroom and towards the bathroom. It completely true. I just couldn't stay in there any  
longer. I go into the bathroom and stare down into the sink. I pull my hair back and wet my face with warm water. "Okay Spence," I tell my reflection. "Think. How can you fix this?"  
I try and remember him talking about when Ali did and what helped. But I can't remember anything. Except...  
I leave the bathroom and tip toe to Chris's room. I knock on the door, and hope he's awake already.  
"Come in."  
I open the door and peak in. He's lounging on his bed, watching tv. He looks shocked to see me. "Hey..." he mutes the tv. "Morning.."  
"Morning." I go in and close the door behind me. "You have SOME compassion right?"  
He throws his head back and laughs. "Uh, sure?"  
"I know you don't like Toby."  
"It's common knowledge."  
"He was up ALL night. And he can't sleep, and he's miserable, he misses his mom and he needs SOMETHING."  
He gets out of his bed now and walks over to me. He's taller than me, and I feel like I've just shrunk a new inches.  
"Okay? And?"  
"I'll cut to the chase."  
"That'd be nice. Then we can both end this awkward interaction."  
"Do you have anything that'll make him.. you know..."  
"You're asking if I have sleeping drugs?"  
"Yeah, kinda. Or any kind of drug that'll help." I cross my arms awkwardly.  
"There's some cold medicine that makes me tired in the cabinet downstairs." He shrugs. "Try that."  
"Chris, come on. You know what it's like to lose someone you love. Help him out."  
"We live on a farm in Kansas. And it's summer meaning my friends aren't so easy to get merch from right now. And my stash is a little low lately. So, all I can tell you is try the cold medicine."  
"Chris, come on. If not for Toby, for me. I'm exhausted."  
"Can you really not handle one all nighter? How're you gonna raise a baby."  
Now I'm mad.  
"Chris..." I shake my head. "My father had an affair. Then died. And my mother killed herself. My sister kicked me out of the house, I'm pregnant in the Kansas summer heat which makes me really irritable,  
therefor I am SO not in the mood for this right now! Seeing Toby hunched over crying makes me remember being a young girl hunched over my toilet throwing up because of how hard I was crying over my  
parent's death, or spending nights with my sister in the ER because she was so depressed she forgot to eat for three days straight. So," I hold out my hand. "Name a price. Anything you want. Just give me  
something to make Toby fall asleep and stop looking at me with "I miss my mommy" eyes. Okay?"  
He moves his eyes to his dresser and then his feet follow. He walks over, pulls out a dirty sock, and a pill bottle falls out of it. He collects his pills and brings them back to me. He puts a pile of little pink pills in  
my hand. "He shouldn't take more than two a day. If he doesn't he'll sleep too much and skip too many meals."  
I look down at my slippers. "Thanks."  
"Just don't tell my mom okay? And don't take any of them yourself. They're not for pregnant people."  
"I won't. And you should move your 'stash.' Girls always look in the sock drawer first."  
He looks at me like he knows this. Like he knows his mom will find them very soon. And she'll take them away. He looks at me with these eyes, similar to the ones Toby is giving me. Silently begging me to  
rat him out so his mother will protect him from himself.  
I return to my bedroom and bring Toby the pills and a glass of water. "I found this in the bathroom cabinate..." I tell him. "Cold medicine. It'll help you sleep."  
He takes one and swallows it. "It's not cold medicine. This medication is illegal to have without perscription and you probably got them from Aria or Chris." He sets his water down. "I used to take these back  
when Ali died and I couldn't sleep. Thanks."  
"Uh.. You're welcome.." I'm shocked.  
He lays his head on my stomach. It's uncomfortable for me, but not physically. I let him stay regardless. And I talk for a few minutes about the summer Kansas weather, and he's asleep before I even notice  
his eyes closed.


	30. Chapter 30

- Emily -  
"Hey," Hanna comes into my room. "Knock knock." She carries a plate of cookies. "Aunt Betty brought these over."  
"Thanks..." I smile.  
She climbs into the bed next to me. "Guess what?" She asks.  
"Yess?"  
"Grandpa went to the main house to see Peter."  
"Meaning?"  
"Meaning..." She scoots closer. "Meaning we're all alone..."  
I laugh. "I guess we are, aren't we?"  
"Mhm..." Hanna inches closer and closer until our noses are touching. The book I was reading slides off my lap onto the bed, and I tilt my head so our noses no longer stop our lips from pressing up against  
each other.  
You know those shows where a couple is about to have their first kiss, and something happens? Someone knocks on the door or something, and they snap out of it and pretend it hadn't ever happened? Then  
the kiss is postponed for many episodes? Yeah. That happens to us a lot. It's like, we're about to come out to friends and family, then some crises happens. Or they move to Kansas. Their mom dies. They  
get pregnant. Or, the cell phone buzzed. Which is what happened this time.  
Hanna and I were getting into it. I thought this might be the first time since we started dating the first week of summer that we'd take clothing off each other. But what happened? 'Wuuuush!' My cell phone  
goes off. 'ding, dong!' Hanna's goes off too. Hanna gets off of me and grabs both of our phones off the side table and hands mine to me. We open the texts without exchanging any words, but freaking out with  
our eyes.  
"Looks like Spencer and Toby aren't the only sinners on the Fitz Farm. I wonder what Betty would say? - A"

Hanna and I jump off the bed. "How do they - but, wait, what?!" I stammer, looking around. "Did they plant mics in our clothes or something?"  
"Or our bodies!"  
"Oh gosh."  
"It's okay, keep calm." She tells me. "Everything's okay."  
"Yeah, right!" I take my phone and shoes, and open our bedroom door. "Come on, let's go."  
"Go? Where?"  
"The main house. To tell Aria and Spencer."  
"Are you crazy?" She asks, but grabs her shoes also. "You wanna tell them about... you know..."  
"We have no choice, Han, they're spying on us in KANSAS."  
"But Emily!" We charge down the stairs.  
"But nothing Hanna! Either we tell them or A does!"  
"I hate when you're right." She mutters locking the front door. I don't point out that we're in the middle of nowhere, because I know she'll reply with "Yeah and apparently so is A." And then I'll get creeped  
out, thinking that A really is on the property. Hanna calls Aria and tells her to start walking towards the guest house and meet us half way and to bring Spencer.  
Hanna and I hold each others hands as tightly as possible and run as fast as we can to the girls. And when we reach them, their eyebrows are shot up. "Girls," Spencer crosses her arms. "Is there something  
you'd like to tell us?"  
We look at each other. "Told you." I mutter. "They know."  
Aria shakes her head in disappointment.  
"Okay can we go inside? It's spooky out here." Hanna holds on tight to herself.  
"No," Spencer says. "No. Cause I may yell."  
"Homophobic, much, Spencer?" I step closer to her.  
"Uh, what?" Spencer steps closer too.  
"Guys..." Aria warns.  
"You just had to make a big deal of it?" Hanna groans.  
"Yeah cause it's kinda a big deal!" She spits back.  
"Whatever Spencer, you know what, I love her." I say.  
"I know you loved her, Emily, but this isn't the way to -"  
"LOVE. Not loved. And this IS the way!"  
"Uh, guys," Aria says again.  
"What, are you not going to love us now?" Hanna asks, slightly less angry and more hurt.  
"Of course I do. But you need help. I'm not even the Christian here," She glances to Aria who rolls her eyes. "But this has to stop."  
"Seriously, guyyss," Aria bends over, looking tired.  
"See?!" I point to Spencer. "Homophobe!"  
"Okay, GUYS!" Aria stands up again and gets in the middle of all of us. "We are not talking about the same thing here! Em, why are you accusing Spencer of being homophobic?"  
"Yeah, really. My favorite cousin's gay."  
Spencers innocent remark makes Aria giggle, eventhough she knows it's probably not the time. Even the way Spencer's sense of humor shows in her voice makes me want to laugh, like we did during the  
school year. But me standing here with my girlfriend, and Spencer standing there pregnant, well, it's obvious things have changed.  
"Because," Hanna says. "Spencer has a problem with Emily and I dating."  
Spencer and Aria exchange a very long, stunned, awkward look. Then, simotaniously, they look to us. As if qued.  
"Han," I say slowly. "I don't think that's what they were talking about..."  
"No," Spencer says quickly. "It wasn't!"  
"I need to sit down." Aria moans, and plops down on the ground.  
Spencer slowly and carefully follows. Emily and I just stand there looking at each other. Aria puts her head in her hands and speaks without looking up.  
"Your mom called, Hanna." She says. "And she told me to tell you the cops found evidence that it wasn't you that broke into Alison's grave."  
Now, my heart is racing even faster than before.  
"Oh." Is all Hanna can muster. We sit down now, too.  
"You didn't tell us Ali's grave was broken into." Spencer says.  
Aria looks up now. "Or that they thought it was you two."  
"We didn't wanna bother you..." I say. "Either of you."  
"Guys," Spencer puts her hand on mine. " We may have run off to Kansas, but we're here for you."  
"Yeah," Aria says. "Now what's this thing about you two dating?"  
"We don't have to talk about that." Hanna says quickly.  
"Oh yes, we do. How'd this happen?" Aria fidgets with the strings of her hoodie.  
"Welll," I glance to Hanna and giggle. "Pool party... booze... sleep over... the notebook..."  
"Say no more." Spencer laughs. "You can have your privacy."  
Aria looks down. She looks upset. Or tired. I can't tell.  
We go on talking a while longer, but Aria stands up. "I'm gonna call it a night." She says. Then, she goes inside without another word.  
"Is she okay?"  
She shrugs. "Wouldn't know. It's not like she tells me anything these days." This time, Spencer gets up too. "I'm going to bed too. Night guys."  
She opens the front door, then turns to us. "But hey, I'm happy for you guys."  
"Thanks, Spence." Hanna says.  
"Yeah, and I'm sorry for flipping on you."  
She shrugs. "It's cool. I love you guys."  
"We love you too." I tell her. Then she goes inside.


	31. Chapter 31

Aria

I knock on my door quietly before going in, to warn Ezra I was back, and that Spencer was following me in because Toby was sleeping. But he's not in there, so Spencer and I go and sit on my bed. We talk about Emily and Hanna for a while, about Toby, the baby and even about Peter, since no one around here even acknowledge he exists often besides Aunt Betty and Grandpa, who we also never really interact with. Then the conversation dies down and I have no choice but to bring up a subject that's been bothering me.  
"Hey Spence?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Why are you mad at me for being a Christian?"  
She takes a while to answer. "I'm not."  
"Then what is it?"  
She sighs. "Because, Aria... I just... I don't like when you do things without me knowing."  
"Uh..." I raise my eye brows. "I didn't know I needed your permission to give my life to God."  
"No," She says raising her voice. "You don't. You know what you DO need my permission for?"  
"What...?" I ask timidly, not sure if I want the answer.  
"To take away your own life." She yells, her eyes watering. "Yet you seemed to think it was perfectly fine to... to..."  
"To what?" I ask before I realize the words have passed my lips.  
"To leave me! To leave me like my mother did, to die like my dad and to abandon me like my sister. You, Toby and the girls are the only ones I have left!" The tears building up in her eyes fall now, and she finally stops yelling and lowers her voice. "And you almost took one of those away from me... Not to mention Ezra... How would you feel if he did that to you? Or if your daughter killed herself?"  
"Spencer..." I begin to cry now too.  
"And that's another thing, what about your future kids? They wouldn't be born... You weren't killing yourself, you were taking away life from your children! Taking a wife away from whoever was going to marry you, I mean... Aria, every time I say goodnight to you, I wonder if I said goodbye to you for the last time! I write down the last words you say to be every night, so if you kill yourself I'll have them to remember. Did you no that?"  
I'm speechless. Totally and completely speechless. There's a knock at the door. It opens slowly, reviling Hanna and Emily standing at the door.  
"We uh..." Emily says. "We forgot to tell you the reason we came over to the house in the first place..."  
I wipe my eyes. "What was it?"  
"Um.." Emily looks from me to Hanna back to Spencer, who has now gotten up, and passed Hanna and Emily to leave the room.  
"How could you not tell us, Aria?" Hanna shakes her head and follows Spencer."  
I rub my head. "Why did you come?" I ask.  
She ignores the suicide questions and sits down. "We got a text from A a while ago, and it was... Well, it was kinda spying on us. I mean, I think."  
"You think A is watching us? Has some kind of mic or camera?"  
"Maybe..." She shrugs. "We just didn't wanna be there anymore."  
"I understand. You guys can stay here tonight. Ezra and Toby can sleep downstairs on the couches and Spencer can sleep in here and you two can sleep in Spencer's room. Go let them know, okay?"  
"Yeah..." She goes to get them, and I flop down on my bed and moan.  
"You alright?" The question comes from Ezra, who walks into the room a few minutes later.  
"No," I mutter. "By the way, we kicked you out of your room tonight."  
"I heard. And so did Daniel. So he's taking the couch, and the girls get the pull out bed in the office that he's been on."  
I sit up. "How are you and Daniel doing anyways?"  
He shrugs. "I mean, it's still awkward. But we don't fight. There's just... you know..."  
"Healing that needs to happen."  
"Exactly." He sits next to me and rub my leg. "So... I couldn't help but over hear the girls talking about you."  
"Don't tell me what they're saying, I don't wanna know." I sit up.  
"We don't need to talk about it then. Unless you want to."  
I shake my head. "Not tonight... I just want to sleep..."  
"Well then come on, let's go to sleep."  
He pulls the covers back and, after getting ready for bed, we both crawl under the covers and scoot close to each other.  
"I love you, Aria." He says.  
"Even though I'm a lot of work?"  
He kisses my nose. "Honey, especially because you're a lot of work."  
I smile and borough my head into his chest, and count his heart beats until I fall asleep, and forget about the conversations I'm going to wake up to tomorrow.


	32. Chapter 32

Spencer

When I woke up this morning, the house was really really quiet. The love birds went over to have breakfast, John and Betty are at a church garage sale, Chris is at a friends, Toby's on a walk, Ezra's tutoring someone from the church, Peter's out at some play center with Daniel, so it looks like it's just me, Aria and grandpa in the house. But grandpa's most likely either sleeping or collecting the morning eggs from the chickens and such. And so I camp out in my room and make an attempt to get in touch with home. I go on Facebook and check the overload of notifications and messages, scroll through the online issue of the Rosewood weekly, and then I finally log onto my email. There's a lot of spam from the weeks I've let my email go. There's a few from Hanna and Emily from before they came, although I already know everything in them, because they figured I wasn't checking my email or facebook so they call me instead. After skimming through all the boring emails, I finally spot an email from Melissa. She apologized, says she misses me and loves me, and that she wants me to come home. She says she's going to do whatever she possibly can to continue supporting me and my baby, if I chose to keep him or her. Then she asks me to call her.  
I've built up walls against Melissa. Plenty of them. Blocked out her comments and jokes, the insults and lies. If she's suddenly nice for some reason, I don't just into it and embrace it. I wait and see if it's real before carefully dipping my toes in. And for some periods of my life we're best friends. Like if she has a boyfriend and she's happy. Or if money isn't tight that month. We get along great and I let my guard down. Then slowly she betrays my trust and the guard goes back up. So when I read this I'm not convinced. But then I love onto the next email from her. She's pleading for me to reply, to call her, to do anything to let her know I'm safe or at least alive. She's saying she doesn't even need to know where I am, just that I'm okay. She says she knows she's been a jerk, a huge one. And that she doesn't deserve me to come home. But that she loves me and wants her 'baby sister back'. And now, despite the walls around me, I'm crying. I think it's the pregnancy hormones. But in my intense emotions, I pick up my cell phone, dial her number and wait.  
"Spencer?!" She answers.  
I can't talk without the words coming out cracked by the lump in my throat.  
"Spencer is that you? Are you okay?"  
"Mel?" I choke out. I hate my crying voice. Melissa thinks it's funny though. But she's not laugh now. She's crying.  
"Spencer, you're okay!" She's sniffling and laughing in relief. "Where are you? No, never mind I don't need to know. Did you get my emails? Do you know how much I love you, Spence?"  
"I did." I tell her, smiling like an idiot to myself. "I'm in Kansas. On a farm owned by Aria's boyfriend's Aunt and Uncle. I gave you the number remember? And I told you where I was going. I wrote you a note..."  
"I never found it... where was it?"  
I close my eyes and try to remember. But I was so tired, maybe I didn't leave it after all.  
"I can't remember, I'm sorry Melissa."  
"It's okay, it's my fault for kicking you out..."  
It's silent on the line for a long time even though I'm sure we both have so much to say to each other. So much that I don't know where to start. So I pick the most important and go with it.  
"It's a boy..."  
It's silent on the line again for a long time.  
"Is he okay? Healthy?"  
"Yeah, he is.. he's growing like a weed..." I put my hand on my stomach and smile.  
"Are you healthy?"  
"Yeah. I hardly had any symptoms, honestly. No nausea or anything. I hardly even feel tired."  
"You're lucky..." She sighs. She sounds odd. Like she knows what it feels like to be pregnant. And I'm wondering... does she? Has she ever been pregnant? Is that why she took my news so hard? Or, is she pregnant now?  
"How are you doing?" I ask.  
"Oh, I'm... okay..."  
"Any boyfriends?"  
She's quiet.  
"Never mind, that's personal. How are you health wise?" I'm hoping, if she is pregnant, she'll tell me before I have to ask straight out. But she's quiet again. So finally, I do ask.  
"Are you pregnant, Melissa?"  
"How did you know?"  
Oh. My. Gosh.  
"You are?"  
"Who told you? Was it Emily? We ran into each other at the mall and I think she was looking at my stomach, I mean I wasn't showing too much, I'm only four months but she was suspicious..."  
"Mel, no one told me. I just... I don't know. Had a feeling."  
"Well... yeah... I am..."  
I can't think of anything to say.  
"Are you going to come home now?" She asks hopefully.  
"No." I tell her straight out. "Not until the end of the summer. I'm staying here.. I have to take care of Aria..."  
"What's wrong with her?"  
I look down at the bed sheets and sigh. "Well, a lot. But her biggest problem is that I've been a cruddy friend. And I need to be there for her..."  
"I admire that. But you can bring her back... I'm sure her family misses her. "  
"I don't know. We'll see. But for now I need to go..."  
"But we just started talking!" She replies.  
"I know but..." I sigh. "It's only eight in the morning and I just found out a crud load of information. And I really need to pee."  
She laughs real loud and I can practically see her throwing her head back. "I know the feeling. Okay. Call me tomorrow?"  
I consider this. "Sure. Tomorrow afternoon okay?"  
"That's perfect. I'm off of work all day so I'm available. But Spence?"  
"Yeah?"  
"I know you hate me, and I don't blame you. But if you have ultrasound pictures... Can I see them?"  
I look to the framed picture on the dresser. I don't know why but I love looking at it, even if I don't feel all that connected to the baby at his point. I don't feel connected at all really unless I see the picture. I think I see this baby as more of a problem then a person. And I either need to A: Knock it off or B: Find a good family for him.  
"Sure," I tell her. "As long as you send me yours."  
"It's a deal."  
"Take care, Melissa."  
"You too. I love you Spencer."  
I close my eyes and imagine the last time she ever truly said that to me. Like, not in an email, or not in a joking way, or a casual "Kay love you bye" way. But a REAL way. It was before mom died, I'm sure.  
"I love you too." I tell her. We hang up and I'm trying to decide between going back to sleep and going to find Aria and make up with her. I'm on a roll. I might as well. After going to the bathroom, I go into Aria's room. She's still sound asleep. So I climb into her bed, and wait until her eyes open. But before they do, mine close and I fall back asleep, then wake up to a scream. At first I think it's Aria, but when I spring up I see her just as surprised as me, staring at the door. The scream came from Emily, who just came out of the bathroom with a towel around her. I have no idea when she or when Hanna - Who's sitting at the desk with her mouth wide open - got here. I suppose they were in here waiting for Aria and I to wake up, but a surprise visitor woke us up for them.  
"Alison?!"


	33. Chapter 33

Hanna

"Alison?!" Emily says, following the scream. Spencer and Aria spring out of bed, as if they weren't safe in it anymore. Which, truthfully, they aren't.  
"Ali...?" I shake my head. "How...?"  
Alison puts her hands up. "I come in peace." She goes to step forward, then senses we're afraid of her. Or the ghost of her. She sighs. "I'm not Alison."  
We breathe a sigh of relief. But I mess with my necklace in confusion.  
"Then who the heck are you?!" Aria's eyes scan the stranger.  
"I'm, uh... Well. Okay I should just -"  
"Spit it out?!" I snap.  
"Yeah. That. I'm Madison. I'm Alison's sister."  
"Ali had a sister?!" Spencer asks.  
"Has. And, kinda. We're half sisters. We only saw each other like, eight times. I live here..." She motions to the window. "Kansas."  
"How much smaller can our world get?" Emily throws her hands up. She sits down in her towel.  
"Um, well... A whole lot smaller." Madison laughs at the irony. "Listen, I get I just showed up here unexpectedly. Why don't you meet me downstairs in fifteen minutes? There's a brunch spread in the dining room that Betty threw together for us. Okay?"  
"Maybe." Spencer crosses her arms against her larger-than-usual chest.  
"Yes." Emily says, attracting a look from angry Spencer. "We will."  
"Great. Thanks." Madison turns and struts out the door like Alison would have.  
We all look at each other. "She really did look like her, didn't she?" Aria shakes her head.  
We exchange conversation and confusion as we hustle to get dressed, and then go find Toby, for protection and support, then we meet Madison in the dining room. Betty is also in there, but she's not chatting with Madison like the usual Betty. The mood is chilly and tense. And us entering doesn't help. "Hey guys." Aunt Betty welcomes us. "I'm gonna be outside in my garden." She pats her pocket  
which is obviously carrying her cell. "Ring if you need me."  
Aria makes a pleading face with her, asking her to stay, but Aunt Betty leaves the five of us with her. Toby's breath is tight, like he's remembering Alison. We all are. And I'm surprised I even can breath.  
"You guys wanna sit?" Madison asks. We don't answer, but sit down. "Dig in."  
Madison looks like a very freaky cross between Chris and Alison. Same blond hair. She has Ali's eyes and Chris's smile. Johns chin, Ali's mom's cheek bones... She even has Alison's voice. And the same look in her eye like she owns the world.  
"Look, Madison." I point a finger at her. "Can you just get to the point?"  
She sighs. "Fine. Oh, and call me Maddie. No one's called me Madison since middle school."  
"Okay, well, Maddie," Emily leans forward. "Why are you here?"  
"Um..." She looks uncomfortable. "I need help. And I think you guys are the only ones who can help."  
"Help with what?" Spencer asks.  
She looks around the room. Then she gets up and closes the door to the kitchen. We watch her as she sits back down and makes us lean in. Then she lowers her voice. "With someone who calls themselves A."  
"Oh, we know her." I roll my eyes.  
"Her? So it's a girl?"  
"Oh, she didn't mean it like that." Aria explains. "We don't know who it is. We have no idea."  
"Okay," Maddie leans back. "I'm gonna lay my cards on the table. Just hang in there cause it's a lot. John is my birth dad."  
Aria throws her hands up in the air. "Of COURSE he is. WHY wouldn't the farm I go to to get away from rosewood be connected to Alison? Of course my boyfriends uncle in the middle of no where is my  
dead friends half sisters dad. Of freaking course!"  
Spencer turns to her. "I think God's just showing off how many mysterious coincidences he can make in one summer."  
Aria melts over and lays her head in Spencer's lap. Spencer pats her shoulder.  
"Hey if you marry Ezra you and Ali will be related in a weird way." She laughs.  
"Not, FUNNY." Aria moans, and sits up, shirfting to lean on Toby instead.  
"No, and not helping. Spence let Maddie talk." Emily says.  
"I'm sorry, but the irony of this is hysterical." Spencer shrugs.  
"Anyways," Maddie rolls her eyes, in the same way Alison did. "Him and mom had a thing in highschool and," She motions to herself. "Here I am!"  
"But John is so Christianly." Spencer says.  
"Even Christians make mistakes, Spence." Aria says.  
"Yeah, you'd know." Spencer shoots back. Aria narrows her eyes.  
"Wait how's John and your mom know each other?" I ask.  
"They used to live in Rosewood, remember, Hanna?" Aria reminds me.  
"Oh, right..."  
"See, the world isn't so small after all." Maddie says. "Anyways my mom and dad were too young for me so my grandparents adopted me. Ali's grandparents. But when dad moved back up here I came  
with him, and went to Kansas University. I graduated last year and - okay I'm getting off track now. Anyways, I got this text a week ago from 'A' saying how my dead sister was about to come back in a  
way I couldn't see coming. and the 'see' was in big, bold, capital letters. Then, BAM. All these texts flooded in. Ones about Alison, my past..." She rolls her eyes. "These were things ONLY my mom knew.  
Like, only. And John and mom haven't talked since I was born. So she didn't tell him. I don't know who she told... But I do know Ali was always listening in on our conversations when we were together.  
Cause she'd taunt me about them. So as far as I know she could have told ANYONE."  
"So what do you need us for?"  
"I was hoping you'd know more about A. And Alison. Like, do you know of anyone she told everything to?"  
"Nope." I say. "She was so secretive. If she told anyone, she never told us."  
"Yeah we didn't even know you existed." Emily says.  
"I did..." Toby speaks up finally. "Me. She told me everything about you.  
"Oh..." Maddie eyes him.  
"She did?" Spencer raises an eye brow. He just nods.  
"Did you tell anyone?" She asks.  
"No." Toby says. "No one."  
"This A person knows stuff about us, too." Aria says. "Something weird about Spencer I don't even know."  
"About me being gay." Emily says.  
"And apparently killed my mom." Toby crosses his arms.  
"And, he or she can see us." I say. "She sent Emily and I text about something we were doing."  
"You don't know that." Spencer reminds me. "We decided it may have been a coininsdence."  
"Still, it's freaky." I shudder.  
"So..." Maddie sighs. "What do we do?"  
"We could get in touch with people back home. See what they know." I offer.  
"I can call Mike." Aria says.  
"I'll call George." Toby sighs. "I need to distract him anyways."  
"I promised to call Mel tomorrow." Spencer says.  
"You talked to Melissa?!" Aria asks.  
"Girls, not the time!" Maddie gives us a sharp look, and I think she's really afraid. And in danger.  
"Really, Maddie." I say. "there's nothing more we can do right now."  
"Why don't we go to the police?" Emily suggests.  
"No. Not with the things A knows about me." Maddie shakes her head. "No way."  
"Then we wait." Toby says.  
"Are you staying here, Maddie?" Emily asks.  
"No. I'm gonna stay with a friend a few hours away."  
"Why? You could stay here." Aria says. I want to slap her. I don't wanna wake up to an older version of Ali everyday.  
"Dad and I don't get along."  
"Uncle John gets along well with everyone." I say.  
"Yeah, well, like you said Aria. Christians sin too."  
Emily blows air from her cheeks.  
"Anyways, I gotta get going. I'll be in town again on Friday. Here's my number. She scribbles it down. "Call me if you find anything."  
After Maddie leaves, we all kinda stare at each other. Then Aria jumps into gear and calls Ezra, Chris and Daniel and tell them to come home ASAP. Then Aria calls Mike, Spencer calls Melissa, and Toby  
calls his brother. "Well," I lean back in my chair. "Welcome to Rosewood, ladies and gentlemen."


	34. Chapter 34

Toby's POV

* * *

I pace around my room as the phone rings.  
"Hello?"  
"George!" I'm so happy to hear his voice.  
"Hey Tobster. What's up?" There's a hint of sadness in his voice, but less than I had expected.  
"You'll never guess who I just saw."  
"Who?"  
I sit on my bed. "Maddie, Alison's half sister."  
"You mean 'hilly billy half sister'?" That's what Ali called her.  
"That's the one."  
"Dang... Why?"  
I explain the situation to him.  
"I thought Kansas was supposed to be boring."  
"So did I." I laugh. "It's getting less boring everyday, and not in a good way."  
"Is that so?" he asked.  
"You better believe it. But anyways I'm supposed to be asking you if you have any idea" My phone beeps, and I figure the battery's dead. I dig around in the sheets on the bed trying to find  
where I threw it this morning. George fills me in on life at home, and how dad's  
been sober longer than he has been in years since mom died. Which, I figure would be the opposite, but apparently not.  
I find the charger and plug my phone in. And when I do, the screen lights up again. And I see the 'new message' icon. I put George on speaker while I check the text.  
"Hey, Toby. Did you know 'Mama' is making plans without you? No? Well your baby's daddy is just a few doors down... And you had no idea! - A"  
"Uh, George? I need to call you back. Okay?"  
"Uh, sure... See ya."  
I hang up, un plug then phone and find Spencer, in the bathroom, plucking her eyebrows. I show her the text. "Hey, you wanna explain this?"  
She lowers the tweezers. "Um..." She squints to read it. Her face tightens up more with every word. "Oh... Yeah... About that..."  
"I'm waiting."  
"Listen.. Daniel and his wife can't have kids and -"  
"You're giving our baby to a druggie."  
"He's not a druggie." She's trying to be patient. "They want kids. And we have a kid..."  
"Exactly, WE. US. OURS."  
"Toby..." She lets out a huge breath. "I can't do it. Be a mom. Not yet..."  
"But it's OUR baby, so it's our decision."  
"Okay, then can we talk about it?" She asks.  
"Sure, right now."  
"How about over ice cream in town?"  
"No. Now's fine. It's half my baby, and I want to raise him. We're keeping him. Well, I am. If you wanna help that's great. But I want the baby."  
"Toby,"  
"No. End of story." I point my finger at her. "YOU go tell Daniel to look for another baby cause ours already has a family."  
She puts her hands up. "Fine. You don't want better for your son than a teenage dad, your choice."  
I know she doesn't mean this, but it hurts. So I walk away and call George back. I spill the entire story to him, then wait.  
"She's right, Toby." He replies.  
I hang up.

* * *

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry it's been so long! I promise I didn't forget about you guys! I'm super sorry! I'll try and keep up from now on! I just got writers block real bad!


	35. Chapter 35

Aria

Toby and Spencer are STILL fighting a full week later, so Spencer has been following me around constantly. Not that I mind. But I can't have a second alone with Ezra. Not that I could, because him and Daniel are always hanging out. And in a strange twist of events, Toby and Chris are hanging out. And the love birds have flown back to Rosewood for a week to see what they can find out. Then they'll be  
back. Life's busy here and there. Too busy. But, it's okay. It's distracting everyone from their problems. Between trying to get info on A, working, therapy, keeping in touch with home, summer school assignment and farm work, we hardly have time for anything. But tonight's a rare night. No one's home besides Ezra and I. And Peter, who's over at the guest house with grandpa playing with the huge train set. Ezra and I are cooking dinner. Well, trying to. I'm digging for a cookbook to try and find something we can make. Finally, I find one. I stand up and set the cook book on the counter. I let out a satisfied sigh. "Hey, Ezra?" I ask.  
"Yeah?" he answers, standing on his toes, stretching, trying to get a from the top shelf.  
"Where do you think the-" I pause mid question. Ezra's shirt has come up slightly as he reaches, and his pants ride low on his hips, reviling what appears to be the top of a tattoo, I amuse, a heart. Ezra gets the pot down, sets it on the stove, and also let's out satisfied, slightly tired sigh.  
"Where do I what?" he asks. I walk over to him and maneuver his clothing to see the tattoo. But before he could stop me, it's in plain sight. A small and simple red heart. With a design in the middle, that says J+E.  
"Ezra..." I examine the tattoo. "Please tell me the J stands for the horse not the girl."  
He pulls his shirt down. "Aria, it was a long time ago..."  
"You got a tattoo for Jackie?"  
"Well... no.. not really...kinda...I mean..."  
"Matching tattoos?"  
"Well, I mean... if you wanna call it that sure..."  
"Did you get them together?"  
"Yeah.."  
"Are they similar?"  
"...Yeah.."  
I bite my lip and took a deep breath. "I'm not mad."  
"Are you sure?" He takes my chin jokingly. "You can be mad if you want." He kinda mocks me now.  
"No, it's fine. It was a long time ago." I say as I walk away from him and start to walk up the stairs.  
"Aria, come on..."  
"I'm getting something." I tell him. "I'll be right back." And I do. I go upstairs and get my purse, and come back down. "Come on." I tell him. "Let's go."  
"Go... where?" He points to the cookbook. "I found the recipe for spaghetti."  
"We'll order in." I close the book. "We're getting the tattoo removed."  
He laughs. "Aria, that's surgery."  
"Mhm." I nod. "I know."  
But, I'm more than surprised when he follows me out the door. And it's not before we've pulled out of the neighbor hood when he turns the radio down and looks at me. "You know I can't get it removed right now."  
"So where are we going?" I ask.  
"Well, we're going to the tattoo shop." Then he turns the radio up again, leaving no room for questions.

It starts raining, and soon enough we've pulled up to the.. library?  
"This doesn't look like a tattoo shop..." I say.  
"No duh." He says. Then he pulls out his phone and calls someone. "Hey, I'm outside. Wrap up and come here." A few minutes laster  
Spencer comes out of the library with her bag over her head and gives us the 'what the heck?' look. She taps for Ezra to roll down the window. But he doesn't, and he opens the backdoor. "Get in!" He says.  
"Where are we going?!" She asks, and climbs into the backseat, completely wet.  
"Tattoo shop."

******

"Toby, come outside!" Ezra says into the phone. And, like Spencer, he comes out of the coffee shop, and gets soaked as he runs to the car.  
"What's up?" He asks, sitting next to Spencer, who crosses her arms angerly.  
"Apparently, we're getting tattoos." I say.  
"Yeah, then we gotta bring home food." Ezra says.  
"Wait!" Spencer holds her arms out. "Do they even HAVE tattoo shops in Kansas?"  
Luckily Toby and Spencer forget their fight long enough for us all to laugh the rest of the way. And Spencer was right, because it takes us forever to find one. And by the time we got there, Spencer and Toby have made up with the help of the Aria and Ezra therapy classes. We get into the town, and have dinner before going into the shop. The girl at the front desk is covered head to toe in tattoos. Literately. "I'm trying to get in some record book for having the most skin covered in tattoos." She tells us when she senses our curiousity. She makes us show her our ID's, and says that Toby and Ezra are the only ones who can get tattoos today, since they're over 18. Which is fine with me, cause I don't want one right now, and Spencer never wants one, apparently. So, they sit Toby down and ask what he wants. And Ezra asks me what I want to do. "Do you want me to get the J turned into an A? Or get a whole new tattoo for you? And get the old one removed back home?"  
I sigh. "Getting tattoos removed are painful and dangerous... Just turn the J into an A."  
"Are you SURE?" He asks.  
"Yeah. I don't care if I get your ex's left overs." I playfully nudge him. "It means the same to me."  
So Spencer and I watch as the boys get their tattoos. We have to get Ezra drunk so he can handle the pain, which is hysterical, because he starts telling us all these old stories with him and Jackie. Usually, I'd be mad. But then I realize my boyfriend got a spur of the moment tattoo for me, over his ex's, in Kansas, and he's drunk. And my best friends boyfriend is behind him, cursing every other second over the pain. And suddenly everything's okay. In that moment, we were just there. In a tattoo shop in Kansas. Being stupid teenagers. And I'm sure we'll all regret it tomorrow. But tonight... tonight, we're just _here._

**********

"Alright, show us the tattoos boys." Spencer calls. Spencer, Chris, Daniel and I are sitting on the bed in my room, and Toby and Ezra are in the bathroom taking the plastic off. It's around three in the morning, but we had to wake Daniel up to show him, and Chris was up for a midnight drunk tattoo showing. Ezra got the J made into an A, and got butterfly sitting on the top with "Aria" written on the wing. It looks better than before, if I do say so myself. Toby comes out next, and he's crying. Spencer is, too. And Ezra and I know why. But Daniel doesn't. Not yet.  
Toby pulls up his shirt and shows us the tattoo - it's the ultrasound picture. The head shot, where it looks like the baby is sucking his thumb. And under it, it says "You're mine and I'm always yours."  
Toby lowers his shirt and Spencer goes to hug him. "I got this so that he's with me even when he's not..."  
"Daniel..." Spencer starts. "If you're willing, we'd like you to adopt our baby..."  
Well, that starts the water works with everyone, besides Chris who gets bored and leaves. Everyone's hugging and Daniel excuses himself to call his wife. And then Toby and Ezra go out for 'a drive', or, you know, to get some drinks with Chris probably. We have got to talk to those three. And Spencer goes to bed, and it just leaves me awake. So I hang around for a while, then I spot the picture of Ezra and I in his apartment with paper bags over our heads for our first couple picture. Which reminds me of our scrapbook. So I pull it out of my suitecase. And I flip through the old memories. Starting with the first couple picture... the day he left Rosewood. The day at the art musame in Philly. One of us in the yearbook while we were working on the Bad Seed Play. Some random throughout our relationship. The ones on the way to Kansas. And then it drops off cause I haven't had time to finish it. There are only about eight pages. So far. I close the book and hold it close. I love Ezra. I really really do.


End file.
